Warriors: Myrmidons
by Thug-4-Less
Summary: An account of Achilles' struggle to survive, care for a gravely ill Claire Marie, and help the residents of a small town discover the warrior spirit within as they defend themselves against raiders and zombies alike. A sequel to Warriors.
1. Chapter 1

_For Alice_

"_If you must go, then at least take a full team with you, Achilles," Shaka pleaded with him for what seemed the thousandth time._

_Achilles paused in double-checking the supplies strapped to the mule, "I will not risk anyone else's life for my failure."Achilles shook his head before Shaka could begin the same denial he had been uttering since The People had left that small town. "It is my fault that Claire Marie was captured. She was _my_ Initiate and I underestimated her misguided attachment to that woman. I let my guard down and she snuck away. You can't blame a child for their parent's inattentiveness."_

_Shaka clenched his teeth against whatever angry words he had been about to utter and settled for growling, "You're the example we hold up high for all to see. You set the bar for us all. What are we going to do if you never return?"_

_Achilles sighed and rested a hand on his friend's shoulder, "What The People always do, friend. The best we can until we can no longer."_

_Shaka grinned ruefully, "You always were better at the fancy speech than me, Malcolm."_

_Achilles laughed, "I would trade my words for your legs right about now."_

Achilles smiled tightly at the memory as he crouched behind a tree beside what some maniac may have called a road on the side of a steep valley wall.

_Odd. I don't even _think_ of myself as Malcolm anymore._

Achilles shook the errant thought away and focused on his immediate situation. A soft moan, muffled, cased him to turn. He rushed over to Claire's makeshift stretcher and worriedly checked her temperature with the back of a dirty hand.

_Still burning up,_ he thought as he slipped his glove back on. _Goddamnit! I hope they have a doctor._

Achilles quickly went back to his tree-side position and raised the binoculars to his eyes. They were older models, no batteries required, but they served his purpose well. There was a tiny community at the bottom of this small valley, centered around what could be politely called a town, but the dwellings all looked too recently converted if the inhabitants had resided the entire winter.

_I estimate the count at thirty individuals. All adults, between twenty and forty, no children, no elderly. No reason they all couldn't pool resources and manpower to convert that Pizza-Hut and grocer far better than they have. _Achilles lowered his binoculars and rubbed the chin-cup of his helmet thoughtfully.

Achilles had passed several burned-out homes as he descended the valley wall. He had thought nothing of it at the time. He had come across the like countless times as people faced a long winter without heat or electricity. That was usually found in areas closer to major cities, especially when it happened en masse. Rural communities were generally better at old-fashioned methods of heating a home without burning it down.

_So, you know what the likely reason is, don't you?_ Achilles asked himself silently because he really didn't want to admit it. _Fucking raiders. They're probably squeezing the locals for food, maybe coal, maybe women. I just hope they didn't take my theoretical doctor and whatever supplies they have._

Achilles returned to the mule, secured the binoculars, and checked the bindings of Claire Marie's stretcher before taking the reins and leading the mule down the road. He needed to find and clear a domicile soon because the sun was starting its slow journey downward. Not only were there zombies to worry about but he was fairly certain he was in bear country.

Achilles mind quickly attuned to what he thought of as travel-mind. His perception of the world within a ten meter circumference increased three-fold. He became one with his surroundings, just another predator, not a man at all.

_But aren't they one and the same_? Achilles pondered that philosophical musing as he searched for a suitable dwelling.

Hours later, he had neither the inclination or apparatus to care how long he had walked, the Warrior-Hunter came upon a two-story home at the top of a gravel driveway that had seen better days. The house was mostly intact, a tree branch had gouged a large hole in the roof, and that was Achilles' prime concern at the moment. There was a portable storage shed still standing approximately ten meters from the house. It was shaped like a barn and definitely would hold Claire Marie's stretcher. Achilles opened the door and was not surprised to find it empty. The former occupants had probably relocated to town. Achilles quickly transferred Claire to the inside, gave her some water, and replaced the gag. He mopped her drenched face before bowing his head slightly in sorrow.

_I'm sorry, Claire Marie,_ the Warrior-Hunter stood with a grimace.

Achilles locked the door as best he could against zombie intrusion with the mule's reins. He turned toward the house and sucked in a deep breath around his mouthpiece. Clearing a domicile alone was something Warrior-Hunters were forbidden to do unless absolutely necessary and with good reason. Achilles had done so many times, much to the other Leaders' displeasure, and it had only served to make his legend grow.

_It still bothers me... everytime,_ Achilles thought with a mental grin._ Okay, no time like the present. Time for battle-mind._

Achilles training regimen had always included Zen no-thought exercises to help him focus and overtime it had developed into a hyper-aware state of being. The difference between it and travel-mind was that his purpose was singular within the battle-mind.

To kill.

_One,_ Achilles counted his small hops silently,... _two, three, four, five..._

Then he began to move. There was no need for extraordinary caution. They would know he was here soon enough if there _were_ any in the house. Achilles tried the door, of course it was locked, but there was another way in. The climb to the roof was accomplished in seconds and clambering through the hole took little time. Clearing the house of zombie infection was accomplished almost as quickly.

The home was relatively clean and didn't have the stink of zombie rot. Whatever had happened here had not been zombie related. A harsh neighing snapped Achilles' head up and had him sprinting for the door. The lock was simple and he was standing on the front step almost as if by magic.

Three zombies were pushing the mule out of the way, or trying to, because the Hector-trained beast was having none of it. Several more were making their way out of the woods on remarkably sturdy legs. Achilles sprinted off the steps toward the approaching zombies. Such was his speed that his target, a zombie nearly six feet tall, didn't turn until Achilles was upon him.

Achilles jumped, thrust his boot out, and hit the zombie in the chest with all of the terrible momentum he had built up. The zombie jerked back as though he had a bungee-cord strapped to him. He rolled several meters away as Achilles landed in a crouch. The Warrior-Hunter twisted, drew his tomahawk, and picked the skirted zombie charging him up in a shoulder-toss. The tiny female careened nearly straight up and Achilles spun to smash her gnarled face in with his tomahawk while she was still in mid-air.

Movement on his left made Achilles turn his head to see two more coming at him. He jumped, side-kicked the leading zombie in the chest, and twisted his body straight as the zombie's momentum transferred to him. Achilles floated a meter back and stabbed downward with the spike of his spear-club into the top of the other zombie's skull. He landed hard but managed to roll the zombie over in order to extract his weapon with a harsh crack that opened the hole wider.

The first zombie he had kicked was coming at him again. Achilles ducked under the standard grabbing attack and whipped his tomahawk into the vulnerable knee. The joint instantly deformed and the zombie flipped forward onto his face. Then the three at the shed finally realized there was easy-access food available.

Each was a runner.

Achilles raised his spear-club and let the second zombie he had kicked impale itself on the spike as it came at him from the left. The impact barely moved the Warrior-Hunter and he could tell the spike had reached the brain by his undead foe's twitching. He jerked the spear-club out and let the zombie fall. The first runner to reach Achilles was stabbed up through the neck and nearly out the back of his skull. Achilles pushed the convulsing thing into the next, messily extracting his weapon, and thrust-kicked the "dying" one in the chest. The final one was on him before he could raise his weapon. She grabbed his shoulders and came in to bite his throat. Achilles met her teeth with a head-butt to the nose. The zombies head tilted back and Achilles struck again. This blow sent the zombie into seizures as cartilage fragments pierced her brain.

Clean-up took less than a minute and Achilles stood victorious once again.

"Turn around, real slow-like," a thickly accented voice spoke nervously from the shed.

Achilles sheathed his weapons and turned to find a sickly-thin woman holding his MP-5 on him.

"Never thought Hoag'd be dumb enough to send scouts out alone," she said, her glasses made her face seem tiny, " Course, that armor's new... and weird. And why didn't you use these beauties, huh? Well? Say somethin'!"

Achilles started walking towards her and, to his shock, she pulled the trigger without hesitation. The woman continued to impress him as she dropped the weapon without a look and drew a huge hunting knife from her leather belt. Before Achilles could remove his faceguard the woman was coming at him with a banshee yell.

The Warrior-Hunter couldn't have that.

Achilles stepped into a wild swing, she was no knife-fighter, and planted a knee in her sternum. She folded and dropped her weapon. Achilles chuckled silently, the battle-mind fading, and kneeled to pick up the blade.

_She's smart and courageous, but definitely not a fighter. She could be though._

Achilles held out the knife for the woman and, after she caught her breath, the scraggly redhead snatched it.

"Who the fuck are you?" she asked breathlessly as he removed his faceguard.

"I am Achilles."


	2. Chapter 2

Her name was Leann and she was hungry.

"So," Leann paused to take a sip of the broth Achilles had made in a huge pot with a rabbit he had caught earlier. "Let me see if I've got this straight. You and these 'People' have been moving south for months and fought zombies and assholes the whole way?"

Achilles nodded from his place besides Claire Marie's pallet. He had placed it as close as he had dared to the wood stove but Claire still shivered occasionally despite the proximity.

"And you rescued her because she's your 'responsibility'. So you broke into my house 'til ya could go into town lookin' for a doctor tomorrow."

Achilles resisted the urge to smile at Leann's incredulous tone. Her accent, quiet and thick, did not help matters.

"Yes. You have it straight," he told her bluntly.

"You're a crazy bastard, but you can fight," Leann nervously sipped her broth as Achilles fondled his string of battle-trophies.

Achilles had not been surprised to discover that this had been Leann's home. The girl had reluctantly let them inside and into her basement. It did her instincts much credit that she quickly realized Achilles could snuff out her life in an instant without having that truth slammed into her face.

_Now how many sheep have you come across that are _that_ perceptive?_

"Did you go to school for that or something?" Leann asked eagerly.

"No."

"Oh," Leann pouted slightly, "Well, where did ya learn all that Bruce Lee shit?'

Now Achilles did smile, "I have always been good at fighting. Now, it being all I do, I am more than good."

Leann stared at him, mouth agape, before barking nervous laughter. Something about that particular smile and eye contact always caused people to react to Achilles strangely.

"I have told you my story, Leann," Achilles pointed out politely. "May I hear yours?"

She turned shy very quickly, "Oh, you wouldn't want to hear anything that borin'."

Achilles was up, across the room and crouching in front of her before the girl's frightened gasp had faded.

"Know this, Leann, for it is very important in dealings with Warrior-Hunters. We have little patience for being treated as though we are stupid. We especially don't like it when people try to play games with our lives."

Achilles did not break eye contact for several seconds until Leann finally tore her eyes away.

"Okay. You don't have to be so fuckin' intense, do ya?" Achilles settled beside Claire Marie as Leann began talking, "I've lived in this crappy little town my whole life. My uncle won the lottery, got cancer, gave my dad most of his lump sum, and let us move into his house. It was great, for about two years, then It happened." Achilles nodded as the girl shivered. "At first we thought it was a joke or something. But everyone in town was talkin' 'bout the riots. Then we heard how Bilsberry, the big town at the base of the road, got overrun. Pretty soon after that the phones went dead. Then the cable. Funny how the satellite t.v. and internet still were up if you had power."

Achilles nodded, "They'll probably be floating up there, sending out repeat broadcasts or static for a long time. Or maybe not. I am not really sure how that system works."

"It doesn't matter, I guess," Leann shrugged, "Anyway, all us down this stretch of valley decided not to go to the evacuation center they set up near Bilsberry. We all had plenty of fuel and food stored up for the winter. A lot of us had guns and enough ammo for an army. We figured that the government would kick the army's ass into gear and wipe those stinky fuckers out."

Achilles nodded, he had heard like sentiment more times than he cared to recall, but his mind had latched on to the fact that these people seemed to have firearms no longer.

" 'Course... it didn't happen and I can tell ya that after a little bit no one really gave a fuck. Well, the bastard's on welfare that never worked a day in their life were all up in arms but we all came to an understandin'. Lookin' back... it wasn't too bad during spring. Sure, it was hard work repairin' roads, clearin' branches, shit like that, but not having nothin' but survivin' another day to worry about is kinda freein'."

Achilles nodded and gave Claire Marie some more water.

"Where... are we?" Claire Marie managed to mumbler through her shivers.

"Safe," Achilles whispered, wiping her brow, "I'll get help tomorrow. How do you feel?"

"Like shit. Back... hurts," Claire Marie whimpered, "Did we lose 'em?"

"Yes. Most of them walked right into that quarry."

"Good," Claire sighed and closed her eyes, "We run outta painkillers yet?"

"I've still got a few pills. You want a couple?" Achilles dug in his medicine pouch at her nod and quickly gave them to her.

After she finished drinking half a bottle of water, Claire Marie raised her head slightly to regard Leann, "Who's she?"

"A local who will give us information."

"Good," then Claire Marie promptly passed out.

"Why'd you rescue her?" Leann asked, leaning forward to squint at Claire Marie.

Achilles smoothed her sweat-slick hair back and smiled, "She's very special."

"She doesn't look it. Kinda small, ain't she?"

"Yes, but so am I. Your story?"

Leann sat back and her expression fell, "Oh, yeah." She ran a hand over the top of her raggedly cut hair and blew out a gusty sigh. "They came about a month and a half ago. The first time we thought it was the army. I mean, who else would be driving trucks with machine guns stickin' out of their roofs? We learned differen' pretty damn quick." Leann's face paled and her mouth twisted hatefully. "We laughed when they first told us that we had to ti- ti-"

"Tithe?"

"Yeah, that's it. Give 'em food, and whatever else they wanted, and they would protect us from the zombies." Leann snuffed back a tear, "Then Lavin got out his shotgun and told them where to put their offer. A second later, _bang!_, he had a big ass hole in his head. A lot of folk ran to the town hall. Some shot back and died. I ran home and told my family. The next day we got a visit from three guys in a jeep with a machine gun. They said they wanted our guns, whatever spare food we had, and any girls between eighteen and thirty. My dad told them he didn't have any girls and they didn't even search the house. They just told him he had to go live in the town and if he had lied then the whole family would be shot."

Leann wrapped her arms around her knees and buried her chin between them.

"My dad said that my sister and me could stay in the house or an old miner's cabin until the men stopped coming around. Somebody told the strangers about us and Hoag and his men raided our place in the middle of the night. I made it out, but everyone else got caught. They-" and now Leann did break out into loud sobs, "-they raped her, then shot my mom, dad, and two brothers. They were just little kids! _Why!?_"

Achilles let her cry herself into quiet sobs before speaking, "Have you been into town since?'

Leann nodded, "Hoag ain't been back in weeks. We think there's trouble with those things."

Achilles nodded, "Good. Tomorrow I would be grateful if you could bring me into town to whoever is patching up your people's hurts."

Leann's eyes widened, "How do you know we have a doctor?"

"Your hand has been stitched, very neatly, and with surgical thread."

Leann chuckled nervously, "You don't miss nothin', huh?"

"Very little," Achilles admitted as he checked Claire's forehead again, "Try and get some sleep. I think tomorrow will see a need for a well-rested mind, body, and spirit."

Leann was still clutching her legs to herself and had fixed a vacant gaze upon him. Achilles snapped his fingers to get her attention.

"I swear to you that I will not touch you, even come near you, and that I will guard your safety as though you were an Initiate. Now, try to sleep."

Leann nodded stiffly, laid on one of the mattresses they had dragged down, and rolled so that she faced away from them.

_Out of the frying pan and into the fire, Achilles, you stupid sonofabitch._


	3. Chapter 3

Leann snuck out shortly after dawn.

Achilles had awakened as soon as his ears registered the purposeful movement of something large. It had turned out to be Leann preparing to sneak out. He had watched her through lidded eyes in the dim, early morning light seeping through the single window high on the wall to his left. Achilles didn't think she was a cold-blooded killer but he was ready if she came at him with her knife. His fears went unrealized as Leann crept upstairs and out of the door.

Achilles was on his feet in seconds and heading for the small window. He peaked out of the curtains and watched Leann set off toward the road at a fast jog. Low laughter, cut off quickly by a gasp of pain, caused Achilles to turn.

"I'm small, but that bitch sounds like an elephant." Claire Marie chuckled weakly from her makeshift bed.

Achilles smiled, "She is not very quiet, true."

"She's 'prolly gonna bring men back to take our guns." Achilles nodded as he warmed the last of their broth. "What are we going to do?"

"Use the bathroom, eat, _you're_ going to rest," Achilles' mouth widened in a wolfish grin, "Then I'm going to prepare a surprise for our guests."

"Cool."

* * *

There were three of them that Achilles could see. They had driven a vehicle of some kind, it had sounded like a poorly maintained truck, close to the turn-off that led up to the long, gravel driveway. Achilles probably would have heard the incredibly loud engine even if he had been asleep.

"I don't think he's dangerous, Clem. He didn't touch me or nothin'," Leann was attempting to whisper to the largest man in the group but her words were easy to discern.

The man was wearing a green trucker cap and chewing mercilessly on a piece of tobacco. He spit out a glob, wiped his mouth with the back of the hand clutching an aluminum bat and laughed.

"I don't care if he's dangerous or not." Clem pointed back towards town. "We need those fuckin' guns he's got when Hoag and his men come back. Now, if he wants ta share then we won't have a problem. If he doesn't-" Clem smacked the bat into the palm of his other hand, "-then we'll just have to persuade him."

Achilles lined up his crosshair, centered himself, and pulled the trigger. Clem's hat flew off his head and he put a disbelieving hand to where it had been. One of the other men laughed while Leann bent to pick up the hat.

"Hey, it's an arrow!" Leann exclaimed a few seconds before Clem lowered his hand to reveal a bloody palm.

All four figures were in plan view and Achilles chose that moment to speak.

"Yes, Leann," Achilles projected his voice in a way that most would think him incapable, "-that _is_ an arrow." Achilles lifted the sniper rifle to his shoulder and put the laser sight in the center of Clem's chest. "You see that little red dot on Clem's chest? That means I can send a round through him if he even _looks_ as though he will spit in my direction. Also, Clem, walk about three steps forward and two to your right. See that little ball that looks like putty? That's hi-explosive and I've rigged this house to blow at the push of a button. That is the situation."

Clem shared nervous looks with the others.

"Okay," Clem spoke after a few moments, "What do you want?"

"Leann did not already inform you? The doctor is not among you?" Achilles ground his teeth when Clem shook his head. "So... instead of coming to trade honestly, you came to take, and now you're going to die."

Achilles finger tightened on the trigger, the battle-mind already settling down like a shroud, when Claire's voice stopped him.

"Wait, Achilles," Claire exclaimed weakly, "Don't kill them. They're just scared and they don't seem too smart. Give them a chance."

Achilles finger slackened on the trigger and he released the battle-mind with a sigh.

_Claire Marie's right. I would have come to the same conclusion if I wasn't tired and frustrated._

"Be thankful to Claire Marie, for it is by her words alone that you live."

One man, far more brave than the others, brazenly challenged, "So what the fuck now?"

"You," the man looked at the others, "Yes, you who has the largest pair. Go back into town and bring your doctor. Do _not_ attempt to deceive me or take this domicile by sneak attack. I will _not_ be as merciful a second time. Now go."

The man looked to Clem and, much to Achilles's bemusement, didn't budge until he received a nod. Achilles watched as the man's slightly heavy frame moved back toward the road. Silence lasted a little more than a minute before someone shattered it.

"So you want us to just stand here until they get back?" Leann's voice and face were absolutely petulant.

"I do not care what you do so long as you remain where I can see you."

"What if we have to pee?" she asked, arms crossly defiantly.

"Then do so where you stand."

That statement brought about a momentary silence, but it was eventually broken by tense attempts at small talk. Nervous jokes were made at Achilles' expense but that also quickly ended. Eventually they all sat on the ground in various states of anxiety. Achilles settled into the wait as comfortably as possible.

Approximately a half an hour later the truck pulled up the driveway. It was a dusty old thing and had definitely seen better days. The doctor seemed barely old enough to shave. Achilles had seen stranger things though.

"Stop where you are!" Achilles shouted as the two made their way toward the house. "Come closer, doctor."

The young man stepped closer and Achilles growled softly to himself. He was dressed much like the locals in dirty jeans and faded T-shirt. The hands he had raised were smooth though.

"Point to your thyroid!" Achilles barked, "You have ten seconds!" The doctor pointed to the appropriate spot. "Your appendix."

Again the man was on point. Achilles spat out a barrage of organs that people generally only had a vague notion of the location of. The doctor knew, with startling precision, where they all were.

"What is your name, doctor?" Achilles called, keeping a close eye on Clem and Loudmouth since they seemed to think he wouldn't notice them edging closer to each other.

"Dawkins," he answered nervously.

"Then come forward and enter, Doctor Dawkins."

The doctor walked on unsteady legs onto the porch. He opened the door and entered as though it were a gas chamber.

"Look up, Doctor Dawkins. Do you see that glob with the little red dot in its center?" Achilles waited for the doctor's sweaty nod before continuing. "That is a demolition charge, small, but I have enough in the right locations to bring this house down. So, no tricks. Do we have an understanding?'

"Yes, sir," Dawkins answered, his voice distinctly non-regional.

"Clare Marie is there," Achilles tilted his forehead in the direction of the couch he had dragged directly to his right.

"What are her symptoms?" Dawkins asked, dropping a duffel bag onto the floor beside the bed.

"Low-grade fever, nausea, discolored urine, disabling lower back pain, and I am fairly sure she has a vaginal yeast infection."

The doctor ran a hand through his mass of light brown hair. It seemed as though none of the locals had spent much time grooming themselves.

"I'll need a urine sample," the doctor moved to get something from his bag but was brought up short by the click of Claire Marie pulling back the hammers of her sawed-off shotgun.

"Slowly, doctor."

Achilles smiled and returned his attention to the front yard. He ignored the sounds behind him, even Claire Marie's pained groans as she stood. There was a rustle of cloth and Dawkins began to splutter.

"What are you dong?!" he asked in obvious disbelief.

"Peeing. Slide that bucket over, doc. Thanks."

Claire Marie urinated for the doctor and sank back down with a grateful sigh. Approximately ten minutes later Dawkins spoke again.

"Uhm, I'd like to do a pelvic exam now."

Claire Marie chuckled, "Okay, doc, help me slide these pants off."

The examination took far longer than Achilles thought it should but finally he heard the doctor help Claire Marie slide her pants on. Some time later Dawkins coughed to get Achilles' attention.

"Claire Marie has a urinary tract infection, as well as a yeast infection. I have some topical creams and pills in town for the yeast infection, but I have no antibiotics. The closest pharmacy is in a town that Hoag is holed up in."

"Where's the nearest hospital?' Achilles asked dispassionately as his mind began seeking a place of clarity for the tasks ahead.

"The next town after Hoag's Fort, but that place is crawling with those cannibals. That's where they set up the evacuation center."

"That will not be a problem," Achilles said, and found he actually believed it.

"Also," Dawkins hesitated, "Raping this girl isn't doing anything for her condition."

Claire Marie barked laughter, "Don't make me laugh, Dawkins."

"But... you've got barely healed trauma to your tissues. I'd say you've been raped as recently as two days ago."

"Hmm, must have been all the running and fighting. Trust me, doc, Achilles is the last person to do something like that."

"Well, I'll have to take your word on that."

"How much would a mule's load of medical supplies be worth to them?"

"What do you mean?" Dawkins asked.

"I can not take Claire Marie to so dangerous a place in her condition. She needs a place to stay and people to help her if she needs it. Can I trust Clem and those he commands to safeguard her?"

"Yes, I suppose they'll want guns more than medical supplies."

"That," Achilles turned to Dawkins with a rueful smile, "- I can not allow."

* * *

After rearranging the placement of detonation charges, Achilles let Clem and his group inside. He had explained his proposal and they took it as well as expected.

"You," Clem winced as his laughing fit caused Dawkins to dab a little too hard at his scalp wound. "-seriously think you can sneak past Hoag's men, a bunch of those cannibal motherfuckers, and raid the hospital?"

Loudmouth, whose name was Robert, chuckled, "Maybe he can fly?"

Leann was the only one that wasn't laughing.

"You didn't see 'em take out those bunch yesterday, Clem." Leann was staring at the detonator in Achilles' hand as though it were a poisonous snake. "You woulda thought it was animals fighting', it was so quiet, and it was over so damn quick."

The man who had been silent so far chose that moment to speak, "He doesn't look like much."

Claire Marie snorted, "You ever get tired of proving fuckers wrong, Achilles?"

"No."

Clem grinned mockingly, "What kind of name's Achilles anyway?"

Achilles grinned back in similar fashion, "You are not worthy to hear such a tale."

"You sure do talk funny," Jim, the quiet one, blurted out.

"I talk as I see fit," Achilles turned to Clem, "So, can we come to an agreement?"

Clem's mouth twisted and he scratched his short beard.

"We need the guns more than medical supplies," Dawkins looked as though he wanted to say something but a glare from Clem cut any comment off.

"Medical supplies will prove invaluable if you're going to fight former soldiers. After I return, we can discuss further trade."

"How do ya know we won't just take the guns and leave Claire?"

Achilles grinned and held up the detonator, "I've put them all in one place. If Claire Marie thinks you're going back on the deal and, click, your dreams are smoke."

Clem laughed, "You don't fuck around, do you?"

"No."


	4. Chapter 4

Clem and the others theories about the state of their little valley were absolutely wrong. Experience had taught Achilles that most survivors actually knew very little about the behavior of Risen. He had seen several instances where such ignorance had led to disaster and his theories were proven valid once again.

The countryside he had traversed to bypass the "Fort" had been only sparsely populated by Risen. They were as easily avoided as dispatched. He had stopped to observe the Fort and could only frown in disgust at what he saw. The Fort itself was simply a collection of buildings the soldiers had erected basic earthen barricades around. The sides were far too steep to climb, even for a living human, with a waist-deep trench in front of the slope. Wooden scaffolding had been erected in spots along each wall to act as lookout posts. The defenses were admirable.

The fact that the solders were burning the Risen trapped in the ditches was not.

No one had verified that Risen reacted to smells but every one of The People knew that Risen would head in the direction of any sort of artificial light. That fact was the primary reason the Fort seemed entirely surrounded by hundreds of Risen. Achilles had shaken his head at such foolishness and continued on his way.

The town where the hospital was, Achilles had never asked its name, was easy to spot. Burned wreckage, explosives damage, breached barricades, and relatively few bodies told the story. As Achilles had expected, the streets were virtually deserted thanks to the irresistible lure the Fort offered. He had cleared a domicile to shelter in during the night and in the morning had continued his journey.

Now he stood in front of the smashed front doors trying to decide if he should clear the hospital or try to take what he needed undetected.

_I should hurry and clearing this hospital, as relatively small as it is, would take all day._

Achilles entered the hospital and nodded to himself as he walked over long dried smears of blood that coated the floor. There was the faint smell of decay from further inside but the lobby was clear. The lobby was small and the hospital only one story. There were several wings but Achilles was only interested in supply storage. He secured the mule behind the reception desk, noting the bloody handprint on a computer monitor, before preparing himself to clear a route.

Once the battle-mind was firmly in place, Achilles headed towards the emergency room via the hall that lead to Radiology. The halls were pitch-black, narrow, and strewn with debris of a medical nature. Achilles' Personal Light Source was shoulder-mounted and spilled harsh white light before him. He passed through Radiology's lobby quickly thanks to the door having been broken despite signs of reinforcement.

The hungry growl of Risen caused Achilles to slow and tighten the strap of his buckler. He was in a sharply curving hall and he sprinted down it. Achilles was brought up short by the scene in front of him. There was a medical cart with all sorts of supplies stacked on it. Several heavy-duty flashlights lay scattered around the floor along with four Risen in the stillness of a Second Death brought to them by oozing gaps in their craniums.

Achilles cocked his head at the life-and-death struggle occurring a little further down the hall. A small, lithe figure was pinned beneath the bulk of a large Risen. Amazingly enough, the person was managing to keep the zombie's teeth away from their face while one hand reached for the gore-covered crowbar only a short distance away, all without screaming for help that wouldn't come.

All of this was processed in seconds before Achilles was moving with the startling quickness he was known for. The Risen had a large chunk of missing flesh in its lower back through which bone gleamed. Without hesitation, Achilles jammed his entire hand into the wound to grab the Risen's spinal cord. The undead man raised his head and Achilles grabbed the grimy hair with his opposite hand. One convulsive heave and the zombie was sailing towards the left wall. The Warrior-Hunter maintained his hold on his Risen prey and grinned around his mouthpiece as its head met the wall with a dull thud. Achilles dropped the stunned creature, drew his spear-club, went to one knee, immobilized the Risen's neck with his free hand, and plunged the reverse-gripped weapon into the base of the skull. The Risen struggled mightily, as they sometimes did, but Achilles grip was strong and experienced.

It stilled quickly and Achilles withdrew his spear-club. He turned toward the sounds of quiet panting and his brows rose in surprise. The struggling figure was a scrawny girl, he thought she might be in her mid-teens, covered in the thick ichor that was the blood of Risen.

_She's probably been bitten. I should kill her now. Quick and painless._

Achilles rose to his full height and the girl scrambled to her feet as well. He was surprised that she had yet to speak, not that it would have deterred him from his course. The girl backed away fearfully as Achilles approached. She saw the crowbar within reach and it was in her hands in a flash.

_Funny. She _still_ hasn't begged._

It was her eyes that sapped his resolve. They were a brilliant shade of blue, discernible even in shadow, and reminded Achilles of HawkEye. Achilles raised his free hand and began Signing at her.

**Were you bitten?**

The girl's eyes widened and she started to let one hand off the crowbar. Her eyes narrowed though and she regained a firm grip on her weapon. Achilles smiled as she shook her head fiercely.

**Okay. I will not harm you if you speak truth. How many of you are there?** Again, the girl shook her head. **Fair enough but, if I were you, I would worry about zombies eating them while we dance.**

The girl's brow furrowed in anger and she finally released one hand.

**Fuck them. They left me for these rotters.**

**Yes, but I think you might need them to carry this stuff out.**

Achilles sheathed his spear-club so he could Sign with both hands. The girl seemed to relax slightly and placed the crowbar between her thighs.

**You are right. My big brother got hurt, so did a few others in our group, fighting Hoag. You know about him?**

**Yes.**

**I want to kill** _**him**_**. We should go find the others. Follow me.**

The girl wasted little time in grabbing a flashlight and heading deeper into Radiology. Soon they passed through an Emergency Room lobby that looked as though dozens of people had been slaughtered. His guide ignored the old blood stains and rotting body parts as she walked through. She entered a set of double doors at the opposite end of the room.

Several Risen screeched in unison was soon as the girl had passed the threshold. Achilles hauled her back by the collar of her T-shirt as he burst through the doors. His weapons were in his hands long before the first Risen was within grappling range. Achilles ducked beneath the reaching arms and planted the blunt end of his tomahawk into the zombie's sternum. The Risen folded, Achilles spun, swinging the tomahawk around in a wide arc, and connected with the back of the Risen's head as it straightened.

Achilles half-turned, saw a smaller Risen coming at him, and drove his spear-club up through its neck. The Risen grabbed his shoulders and struggled to bring Achilles closer. Achilles twisted the spear-club, producing several harsh cracking noises, stabbed deeper until the Risen spasmed, withdrew the weapon and finally shoulder-blocked it into the Risen charging at them.

Now the wide hall seemed to overflow with Risen.

_All for me._

The battle-mind filled his being until Achilles felt as though he were nothing more than a vessel from which carnage flowed forth. He moved fluidly through the mass of Risen, his grace and power undeniable. Every action simply a reaction to his immediate surroundings. Achilles muscles sang with the exertion, his breath came easily, and he gloried in his prowess.

Finally there were no more foes on their feet. Achilles turned to finish those he had merely disabled only to find the girl bashing their skulls in with her crowbar. He nodded in approval and helped her finish them off.

A door was unlocked and opened shortly after the last Risen was given the Second Death. Three men walked out, all taller and heavier than Achilles, wielding crowbars much like the girl's. But judging by the bullet wounds in some of the Risen, they had started out with guns.

"Holy shit!" one of the men exclaimed, glancing at the dead Risen, "There must be a dozen of 'em. They didn't fire a shot!"

"I can see that, Dave. Hey, mutey, who's this guy?" the shortest of the three barked at the girl.

The girl shrugged helplessly.

"Where's your notepad? You stupid bitch! How am I supposed to talk with your dumbass if you don't have a notepad?"

"I saved her and I just saved you. Who I am is unimportant." Achilles interrupted the man's abusive tirade.

"Hey, little man, I'll let you know when I'm talking to you," the other two chuckled and moved to flank the leader.

"All I want is medical supplies. Then we can all go our separate ways."

The leader chuckled, "One problem with that, lil' fella. We've laid claim to all these goods. So you'll have to go someplace else."

"There is no place else," Achilles Signed to the girl behind his back, **Get back.**

"That's not our problem."

"I _will_ kill you," Achilles told them in a matter-of-fact tone,"But I would rather not."

The leader frowned, "Teach this little bastard a lesson so we can get out of here."

Achilles' tomahawk was flying before the last syllable was out of his mouth. The blunt end struck the leader in the nose with a dull crunch. Blood exploded from his ruined face but he managed to scream through it. The other two turned to him in shock and that was the last mistake of their lives.

Achilles darted towards the tallest, leapt, and stabbed his spear-club through his foe's neck. The man clutched the handle, his screams coming out as wet gurgles, and slammed backwards into the wall. Achilles' final opponent turned before he could reach him. The man swung his crowbar but it was dimly lit and he misjudged the swing. Achilles drew his knife, his back-up weapon as well as battle-trophy extractor, and hopped to wrap his arm around the man's neck. Achilles planted a boot into the back of his enemy's knee and bowed the man backwards over his hip. Achilles angled the man's head back so his throat was exposed to the air. He brought his knife-hand around and the man panicked.

"No! Don't! Plea-"

Achilles cut swiftly and deeply. Hot red blood squirted from the carotid to coat Achilles' armor. The Warrior-Hunter dropped the dying man and turned to find the girl staring in shock. The leader was still alive, clutching his ruined face, and moaning softly.

**I can help you move the supplies. Do you have a truck?**

The girl nodded but her starry-eyed expression was still fixed.

**This won't be a problem, will it?**

The girl's mouth twisted and she Signed.

**Fuck them.**


	5. Chapter 5

It seemed that Achilles was destined to meet strange and interesting females along his journey. The mute girl, whom he had taken to calling Silent, was now driving her truck deep into the back country while Achilles made his own way to Claire Marie. They were traveling in different directions and Achilles, experienced Warrior-Hunter that he was, had come to view motor vehicles as deathtraps. He had informed Silent that there was a doctor in the town past Hoag's Fort and then bid her farewell.

Under normal circumstances Achilles would have taken the rest of the day to recover from the rigors of recent battle, but these were not normal circumstances. Claire Marie needed at least three months of intensive training before she would be ready to take her Warrior-Hunter Trial By Fire and receive the mark. Only then could they begin their long trek to catch up to The People. Achilles could feel each hour of Claire's illness chipping away at their chances of catching The People before winter set in.

Night fell when, by Achilles estimation, he was a mere two miles from Leann's house. The sky was still dark blue and the moon nearly full, so there was plenty of light. Achilles took a deep breath, the travel-mind settling heavy, and he began to jog.

There were no attacks from Risen, bandits, or wild animals, and Achilles soon found himself placing the mule in the storage shed. He wore the backpack containing Claire Marie's medicine. Achilles was making his way towards the front porch when the soft glow of candlelight stopped him in his tracks. Then harsh, angry voices spilled into the night and caused Achilles to slowly advance to a position underneath the window.

"-ain't coming back, for the last time, gawddamnit!" Clem's voice was shrill with irritation or anger. It was very likely both.

"It's only been a day and a half, Clem," Leann sounded calm but her voice was just as high.

"I'm telling you, we should just grab the detonator, take the guns, and go back to town." Clem grumbled quietly.

"Oh, stop with that bullshit. You know you're not going to let that woman die." Leann chuckled, "I know what'll get you out of this mood."

Achilles slipped away as wet, sucking noises and a sharp intake of breath replaced the conversation. The small basement window was unlocked, as he had instructed Claire Marie to leave it, and in seconds he was lowering himself to the floor. He locked the window and undid his faceguard. He turned to find that Claire Marie had her shotgun trained on him in a wavering grip.

"Achilles?" she asked, uncertainly.

"Yes," Achilles went to her side as she lowered her weapon.

"Water?" she shifted on her makeshift bed and Achilles helped her sit up.

There was a pitcher of water on a nightstand next to a glass. Achilles sniffed the water and wrinkled his nose at the scent.

_Smells like well water._

"The doctor said it's safe."

Achilles nodded, poured her a glass, watched as she drank it all down, and then poured himself some. Once he was done, he wiped Claire's forehead with a damp cloth kept on the nightstand.

"Have they treated you well?" Achilles asked and looked toward the ceiling as heavy furniture banged against a wall.

"Faster!" Leann's voice barked.

Claire chuckled, "They've done it six times since they were left to watch me. Clem talks a _lot_ of shit but I don't think he's ever killed anyone. Maybe shot a few Risen but if he's gotten more than a few feet near an active one I would be surprised."

Achilles nodded thoughtfully, "I see. Does the doctor come by?"

Claire nodded, "Once in the morning and again in the afternoon."

"How do you feel?" Achilles asked as he settled into place beside her.

"Like shit, but the Doc managed to hide a bunch of painkillers from Hoag's raiding parties." Claire Marie paused to yawn, "I don't take them much. I was afraid they'd try to break in while I was out. But now you're here."

Claire smiled in that way that made Achilles' insides stir in a manner they hadn't in years.

Achilles nodded slowly, "You did well. Now rest. The doctor will dole out the antibiotics in the morning and soon we will continue your training."

Claire Marie yawned, "'Kay, 'Chilles."

Achilles couldn't contain a small grin when Claire Marie impulsively hugged his waist and promptly passed out. He removed one blood-soaked gauntlet and absentmindedly stroked her hair. It was a small hope that she would not explode into hysterics when Achilles told her she had to shave it off. Female Initiates tended to be the worst about that.

Achilles drifted to sleep, nearly fully armed and armored, wondering how best to train Clare Marie in the ways of a Warrior-Hunter.

* * *

The loud, consecutive slamming of six truck doors snapped Achilles back to consciousness. Claire Marie also surged awake, snatched up her shotgun, and sank back to the pallet with a low groan.

"Rest. I'll be back with the doctor soon."

Achilles slipped his gauntlet back on, circled around to the wooden stairs, and quickly ascended them. He stopped at the door because of the shouting blasting through the thin barrier.

"-Mayor! That crazy bitch downstairs'll push that button if you even _look_ at her too long!" Clem's voice shook with anger.

"I sent you up here to see if you could get the gun's this mystery man supposedly has," sarcasm dripped like acid with this Mayor's every syllable. "Not to make some kind of deal that has our only fucking doctor risking his life coming up this goddamned mountain every goddamned _day_!"

Someone unfamiliar chuckled, "Maybe he just wanted some alone time with Leann?"

"Screw you, Burnsy!" Leann snapped at the stranger.

The voice, deep and slow, chuckled, "What number do I get?"

"Cut that shit out!" the Mayor snapped, "We'll be reasonable, but if she won't be-"

Achilles drew his spear-club at the sound of the hammer of a revolver being cocked.

"That's a bit far, Mayor," the doctor protested. "She's just a defenseless girl!"

"Who's willing to blow herself up for a damn nigger?" the Mayor snorted, "Young people. I'll show you a thing or two."

Achilles grip tightened on his spear-club and he also unshipped his tomahawk. The battle-mind cleared his errant thoughts, his misgivings about the killing he so often did, and he was prepared. A soft hand, small and weak, gripped his arm.

"No, Achilles," Claire Marie said weakly, her breath coming in short gasps, "We need a place to stay. I don't think they'll be too happy if you off the Mayor."

Achilles ground his teeth in frustration and Claire Marie continued.

"Plus, we need the doctor. Well, _I_ need the doctor."

Achilles took a deep breath to reply and the door opened. He found himself facing a red-faced, heavyset man in his fifties. The man's large brown eyes widened even further, his mouth gaped, and the revolver was held uselessly at his side.

_Others_, Achilles thought derisively, as he exploded into furious motion.

Achilles charged the heavyset man and his opponent instinctively raised his arms to ward off the attack. Achilles dropped his tomahawk, snatched the revolver from the stunned man's fingers, and pointed it at the tall, chubby man attempting to sneak up on his left side. The man came to an abrupt stop and the mayor froze as the tip of Achilles spear-club came to rest just beneath his chin.

"I told you," Leann mumbled, her wide-eyed gaze squarely on Achilles.

_I probably look like a maniac with all this blood covering me._

The Mayor tried to raise a greasy-looking smile, "Now-"

Whatever the man was about to say was swallowed when Achilles pressed upward with his spear-club.

"I think you want to drop the shit, son," a voice said from behind Achilles.

Achilles could only smile wolfishly, "_Claire Marie!_"

The click of Claire Marie's sawed-off seemed thunderously loud in the small area.

"And tell your buddies over there not to take a fucking _step_," Claire Marie said in a strong, steady voice. "I swear to God I'll press this fucking button and send us all straight to hell."

"Bullshit!" the man behind Achilles spat but his voice was not confident.

"Believe we are ready to die," Achilles said, "For death comes for us all eventually and this is as worthy a way as any." Achilles let them stew for a full minute before speaking, "Clem, who is this man?"

Clem's mouth twisted slightly, "Only kind of local government left. The 'Mayor' of our little valley, as it were. I came up here to, um, negotiate on his say-so."

"So," Achilles let the single word hang in the silence for a moment, "It was you who sent those men to take what _you_ wanted by force and nearly got them killed for the trouble."

The Mayor raised his chin enough to get the deadly point off his flesh, "Now, wait a minute, son. Let's think about this."

"I am not your son. Never call me that again."

"Okay... sir," Achilles eyebrows rose at how hard it seemed for the man to say that word.

"Fortunately for you, someone thinks you would be more useful alive, otherwise I would have killed you all."

"Even me?" Leann squeaked, "But I thought we were friends, Claire."

"We talked for less than an hour, Leann. Besides, you are an Other, as they are Others. Your lives hold very little value to The People. If Achilles hadn't taken my suggestions, we would have killed you."

Achilles heart swelled with pride at his Initiate's words, but he could not let it show now. Leann's mouth gaped open for a second and then she started sobbing.

"Now," Achilles began, "We can't stay in this position forever. We need to trust each other, sort of. I have kept my end of the bargain struck, Mayor. Clem, Leann, could you check the storage shed for verification."

Clem nodded slowly and quickly led Leann out of the house. Soon they were back, Leann's sobbing under control, and Clem nodded to the Mayor.

"Whole shed's full of gear. Don't know how the fuck he got it all up here on that ugly donkey."

"Mule," Achilles corrected without moving, "Now I have upheld my end of the bargain. Can I trust you to hold up your end?"

Achilles lowered his weapons and took a step back. He offered the Mayor his revolver, butt-first, and watched dispassionately as the man snatched it back.

"Claire Marie," Achilles said calmly, and stepped aside as a tall, slender man stumbled forward with a startled curse.

"What the fuck, bitch?!" he yelled, turning to reveal a flushed, splotchy-cheeked face. "Watch that shit!"

Achilles backed to Claire Marie's side. She still had her sawed-off aimed at the Others. He lowered her arm with a gentle hand on her wrist. The Mayor rubbed his chin and eyed the two thoughtfully.

"So there's no way you'll part with some of your guns?"

Achilles resisted the urge to smile, "We may be able to come to an understanding."

* * *

Achilles stood next to a seated Claire Marie as the Others drove away.

"To think that these little pills can end so much pain, "Claire Marie mused as she rocked in her chair with the sawed-off in her lap. "So, why'd you give them most of the heavy stuff? I thought we were leaving as soon as I'm better?"

"You need training if we are to travel and fight as a unit. You definitely need more endurance training. You tire far too easily."

Claire nodded, "When do we begin?"

"Well, you need to get better, and the Doc said five days. So, in four we begin."

"What will you do?" Claire asked curiously.

"Fortify the house, clear the surrounding area of Risen, prepare training devices."

"I'll get bored."

Achilles barked laughter, "I have notebooks prepared by Artisan-Laborer historians. You have much to learn about our short history and not-quite ancient traditions."

"Shit. I always hated history."


	6. Chapter 6

Claire wanted to kill Achilles.

It was raining hard, the ground was thick mud, and Claire was hooked to a bungee cord that was attached to a tree. She was supposed to touch a ring that was less than twenty feet away. At first the distance had only been sixteen feet but, every time Claire touched the ring twelve times in a row, Achilles would increase the distance by another foot. Claire had reached twenty after only three days of conditioning training. She thought Achilles was impressed.

Claire's muscles bunched, the pain making her grit her teeth, and her fingers strained for the ring. Then her feet lost any semblance of traction and she was sliding on her back through the clinging mud. Claire twisted around like an eel so that the cord was between her legs. She gathered her cord in both hands and spread her feet to shoulder-width. There was time for a single bracing breath before she hit the "speedbump" that Achilles had built up. It was barely a foot high but the dip behind it was two feet deep. Claire still had a bruise from the first time she had let the cord drag her exhausted body back.

Claire's feet touched the bump, sank into it slightly, and she pulled back with her arms while bracing her legs. The entire effort was excruciating but Claire only let a pained grimace escape. Achilles was there beside her, ever calm, switch in hand as he waited for her to make any sort of loud noise. Even heavy grunts of exertion were met with light smacks. Achilles had told her the rules, but shock had still coursed through her the first time she had cursed with the pain. The welts on her back had barely faded from that episode when she had done it again on a different "course" as Achilles called his torture devices.

"Good, Claire Marie! Pure determination is the true mark of a great Warrior-Hunter. Just one more touch and we're done for the day."

Claire resisted the disrespectful laughter that threatened to bubble up. She had come to trust the man absolutely but she knew from previous experience that Achilles would sit out there for as long as it took for Claire to reach the goal he set for her. Claire Marie dug her feet into the muck, planting them as hard as she could, and tried to ignore her aching body.

_Pain is an illusion, Claire Marie, _Achilles quiet, powerful voice was in her head. _A trick of the body to prevent damage to its systems and to warn you of damage being done. You _can_ learn to ignore it and move forward until only the most disabling pain can stop you. Remember, always, only an illusion._

Claire grit her teeth and pushed. The ring seemed to leap into her hand in seconds. Achilles was there unhooking her from the bungee-vest almost instantly. As soon as the tension was gone, Claire fell forward to her hands and knees to pant quietly. A small whimper escaped her and she braced for the sting of Achilles switch but the blow never came.

"Someone," Achilles said loudly enough for her to hear just before he drew his semi-automatic pistol from his shorts with blistering speed.

Claire Marie raised her head just in time to see a lone figure rounding the corner of the house. As the person came closer, Claire saw it was a girl covered in wet grime. Her clothes looked burned and torn. Pale blue eyes, like crystals, lay beneath a foreboding brow that Claire thought was a recent development. The girl took a moment to study Claire, running a hand through her wet mass of red-blonde curls as she got a look at Claire's stubbled skull.

_And didn't it surprise Achilles when you let him shave it without a word?_

The girl began speaking in sign language as soon as he eyes settled on Achilles. Claire rose to her full height, only slightly self-conscious that she was dressed in a loincloth, panties, and a sports bra.

_I do like the muscles I'm starting to see though._

"Come inside, Claire Marie," Achilles said, "We have much to discuss."

* * *

Claire ate two large bowls of rabbit soup and used the outhouse while Achilles talked to the mysterious girl. Achilles was teaching her Sign himself, and she also had a book on it, but that skill did not come to her as readily as the physical ones. But she did understand enough to trouble her.

Death. Murder. Join. Those were the three that had forced Claire to excuse herself. When she came back inside, Achilles was waiting for her in the laundry room.

"We have a decision to make, Claire Marie." Claire simply raised an eyebrow in response and Achilles continued, "Silent wants to join us."

"Silent?"

Achilles shrugged, "She will not tell me her birth name. She says that she has no family left, so it does not matter. Silent thinks my name for her is as fitting as the one of her birth."

"Now, by join us, does she mean me and you?" Achilles shook his head. "She wants to become People!? Does she know what that means?"

"I left her with the Book of Initiation. I directed her to the chapter outlining the varied Trials a supplicant may be asked to undertake. She should be finished by the time we return."

"Okay, so what's the decision?"

"Should we Initiate Silent or should we send her anyway."

Claire frowned, "Why would we send her away?"

"There are only two of us and you are merely an Initiate," Claire made a sour face and Achilles actually chuckled. The sense of accomplishment that filled her was greater than when she had touched the ring earlier. "We also have no Artisan-Laborers, so time better spent training will need to be spent doing those things experienced Artisan-Laborers do to keep Warrior-Hunters ready for battle."

"Oh, well, couldn't she train to be an Artisan-Laborer?"

Achilles shook his head slowly, "She said she wants to learn to fight like me so she can get the bastards that killed the little bit of hope for a life she had."

"Hoag?"

"Got it in one," Achilles smiled slightly, "Sometimes I almost feel happy the world died."

Claire stared in horror for a moment, "But why!?"

"I would never have known you, Claire Marie, and that would have been a sad thing, I think."

_Oh god, don't blush!_ But a blush did rear its ugly head.

"We should decide. I say we send her away."

Claire pursed her lips for a minute before speaking, "I say she stays."

"Why?" was Achilles quiet response.

"Well, three stand a better chance of making it back to The People than two. Strength in numbers, you know."

Achilles nodded, "You are correct. I wasn't going to send her away, I just wanted to hear your thoughts. If she passes the Trial then she can stay."

Claire followed Achilles as he made his way down to the basement but they were both brought up short by what greeted them. Silent waited in the center of the room without a stitch of clothing on. She Signed at them as they stood in momentary shock.

"What'd she say?" Claire had not been able to keep up.

" 'Is this not part of The Rite of Entry?'"

Claire laughed, "I guess she won't have any trouble passing the Trials."

* * *

"Do _not_ stop, Claire Marie, for the pain you are feeling pales in comparison to what I will give you. Now pick up your feet."

Claire took a deep breath and tried to do as Achilles instructed as he lagged behind her to deliver a tirade in Sign to Silent. This was lap number thirty in the dirt track Achilles had worn around the house in his first week there and Claire thought she was going to die. The heat wafting up from the ground was not as bad as off of asphalt but it still made her legs feel as though they were on fire. Breathing in the hot, muggy air was also proving more difficult than she had thought it would be after all the conditioning training she had undergone in the past two and a half weeks. She and Silent were trudging along like tortoises. Achilles was just as sweaty, and his feet weren't moving nearly as briskly as when they started, but he still had enough energy to go back and forth between them and deliver calmly voiced tirades at their lack of fitness.

"Visitors!" Achilles barked, "Coming up the pipe!"

Claire immediately stopped, dropped to one knee, and fumbled her crossbow from her back. Achilles drew his pistol and also went to one knee. Silent was a little slow with her crossbow but soon she was in a firing position with them. A pair of figures walked slowly up the driveway and resolved themselves into Leann and a short man. Leann carried a backpack while the man carried a camping pack that dwarfed his frame. It was clear how much of a burden the man's pack was as he carelessly dropped it on the ground in front of Achilles, took off his glasses, and wiped the sweat from his brow. Claire was impressed that neither seemed very disturbed by the fact that they had weapons pointed in their direction.

"Hey, Achilles, Claire," Leann waved at them timidly before wiping her dripping forehead with the back of her left hand.

"Who is he?" Achilles asked, his pistol aimed directly at Leann's torso. "Why have you returned?"

"This is Richard," the man was Asian and had eyes so dark a brown they seemed black even in the sunlight. The man smiled shyly and pushed his glasses up onto his face. "He's one of the people that got away from Hoag's Fort. He was helping take care of his sick mother. That's why it took so long to get here."

Achilles nodded, "Now, the first question."

Leann's face flushed pink and when she opened her mouth not a single word managed to escape.

"I wish to study you, Lord Achilles," Leann's companion's voice was slightly accented, deep, and he said Achilles' name uncertainly.

"I am no Lord," Achilles gave the man a sideways glance, "What is your name?"

"Richard."

"Listen well, Richard," Achilles rose to his feet and held his weapon in a ready position. "The People are not a thing to study. We are a private people and no Other is allowed to reside with us or learn our ways. To do either you must pass an Initiate Trial and be initiated. Becoming People means that all Others take second place to the concerns of The People, including your family. Are you prepared for such a thing?"

The young man pursed his lips for a moment before answering, "Yes."

Achilles fixed Richard with an intense expression before nodding and turning to Leann, "Now, why are _you_ here?"

When Leann finally spoke, it was as though the words had been held behind a dam and now rushed forward with unstoppable force.

"Richard said my sister was still alive! Hoag's got her in his Fort but she's still alive! No one in town'll go help me get her! If I can fight like you, I can go get her myself!"

Achilles nodded, "You wish to save your sister, that is a worthy reason, but did you listen to what I told Richard. The People's concerns come before all Others. Your sister is lost to you, Leann."

Leann grit her teeth, but nodded, "But if the chance comes where I can save her, I _will_ take it. Now, what'll we have to do to join."

Achilles cocked his head to the side, "Claire Marie?"

"_Strip!_" Claire barked, making Silent, Leann, and Richard jump with the volume she could produce. "Completely naked for the Rite Of Entry. Then you will read passages from the Book Of Initiation to help you better understand what it is to be of The People."

"You can't be serious!" Leann screeched.

"We are," Achilles said, and both of his Initiates nodded with baleful glares.

"I can't fucking believe this," Leann muttered as she slipped her T-shirt over her head.

Richard merely shrugged and began removing his clothes. There was a brief pause as both seemed to need a moment to collect themselves before they removed their underwear but finally it was done. Achilles inspected them while Silent and Claire took careful aim.

"They may pass," Achilles said, "You may clothe yourselves and follow me. Claire Marie, Silent, resume your laps. Warm-up again and then fifteen more."

Claire groaned and strapped her crossbow back on.


	7. Chapter 7

_Journal Entry #1: June 16__th__, 2005_

_My name is Richard Denton. I am... forgive me, was, a twenty year old student majoring in anthropological studies. I have decided to keep this journal to document my experiences as an Initiate of The People. So, as of this evening, I am now an Initiate of The People until I earn the mark of an Artisan-Laborer._

_I am so excited at this unexpected opportunity that I feel as though I could burst at any second. Simply hearing Achilles speak of The People makes me yearn for the chance to walk freely among any of the three Clans._

_I should confess that Achilles flat-out told me that I did not have the makings of a Warrior-Hunter, but I understand how someone with poor eyesight could be a hindrance on the battlefield. I can become an Artisan-Laborer though. At first I assumed that Artisan-Laborers were some form of serf, and I was quickly prepared to make my escape if it was revealed to be such, in a spontaneously evolved manner of Manorialism since The People don't have manors... yet. The Book of Initiation clearly states that every single individual of The People are entitled to the same rights and subject to the same laws._

_So, to further elucidate my new position in life, I am an Artisan-Laborer Initiate of The People._

_I do not know if I can leave my family when the time comes but the Book of Initiation does mention Exiles who chose to be left behind with loved ones. That may be the path I have to take._

* * *

_Journal Entry #2: June 17__th__, 2005_

_I am utterly exhausted. Too tired to really think. Will jot down observations later._

* * *

_Journal Entry #3: June 20__th_

_Trainer Achilles finally gave us a rest day of a sort. He took Silent with him to check the game traps and to begin teaching her how to stalk deer. Achilles left Claire Marie, we have all taken to referring to her in this semi-formal fashion, in charge and gave us a list of tasks as well as several sections of the Book of Initiation to read. He also gave Claire Marie full permission to deliver the punishments outlined in the book for disobedient Initiates._

_Once Achilles and Silent were gone, Leann promptly flopped onto the couch. She told Claire Marie, and I quote, "Stop being such a teacher's pet, Claire Marie." This statement was followed by silence and I immediately backed away from the storm I felt brewing. Claire Marie's face emptied of all emotion, the same mask that Achilles wore when he doles out lashes to the Warrior-Hunter Initiates._

_I must admit that I am at once envious and happy that I am not a Warrior-Hunter Initiate. Achilles has never lashed me for making too much noise during training, he says that the path I tread behind the Warrior-Hunters should be clear of Risen, but I should still strive to be as quiet as possible. He does drive me mercilessly during endurance training( I think we have worn an inch-deep track in the ground.)_

_What makes me envious is the pride and self-respect I can see Achilles building in Claire Marie_,_ Silent, and Leann. I am amazed it has barely been a week since I got here._

_Claire Marie drives herself far harder than the rest of us and the other two Warrior-Hunter Initiates drive themselves nearly to exhaustion. I watched this short, frail-looking woman utterly decimate Silence and Leann, both larger women, in grappling matches. I must admit that her intensity frightens me more than a little._

_I could only watch as Claire Marie grabbed a handful of Leann's hair and another of her stained T-shirt to throw her off the couch. Before Leann could shout, curse, or even take a breath for any manner of speech, Claire Marie had mounted her back and got her in a chokehold. She whispered something to Leann that I could not hear and then released her. Leann slowly got to her feet and mumbled something before shuffling to the list Achilles had tacked to the wall. Claire Marie merely fixed me with a look and I hurried off to find a task that I could accomplish._

_There was no mention of the incident when Silent and Achilles returned._

* * *

_Journal Entry #4: June 25__th_

_Today was an exciting day, I made a lot of progress in learning how to shoot the crossbow and handgun. The grueling endurance training is not wearing me out as badly, a pleasant surprise, though scaling the side of the house does still reduce me to a quivering mass. What was really exciting was that I had my first, solid evidence of an adult human's predisposition towards cultural conformity after their former cultural identity is systemically broken down_.

_Leann, Silent and I were disassembling and reassembling the two crossbows Achilles had brought with him while he and Claire Marie worked on weapon techniques. We had been instructed to take a break every few minutes to guard against muscle cramps in our hands. Leann had looked up and unthinkingly Signed, she was not-quite-secretly proud of the fact that she had picked it up far faster than Claire Marie, __**"God, I can't wait to go down to the Other's town and see my old friends. They won't believe the muscles I got this quick."**_

_Neither Leann or Silent seemed to notice anything strange about her unconscious alignment of herself as People, despite her relatively tenuous status as an Initiate, and her former neighbors as Others. I looked at their further conversation with interest and saw that the thread of identifying everyone not of The People as Other was not a fluke._

_It is a bit startling how insidious the indoctrination of Initiates into The People can be. The isolation is a big part of it, I think, and then you get a strong alpha-male personality in the Trainer. Humans will fall into a pack mentality, but to see the truth of it is somewhat of a shock._

_On a side note, I have detected a subtle shift in everyone's speech patterns to the semi-formal, archaic pattern Achilles favors. It is strange to be studying a process in which one is a participant._

_Now it is time to sleep._

* * *

_Journal Entry #5: July 2__nd_

_I have been lapse in journal entries because Achilles decided to start my strength training regime, which the Warrior-Hunters have a far less rigorous version of, and that has left me far too weak to write at the end of most days. I have been alone in this domicile for a full rest day while Achilles took the Warrior-Hunter Initiates out to practice their stalking. I tended my practice garden, finished the Book of Initiation(I wonder how much the branding will hurt), and now I sit here in the basement pouring over instruction manuals for building the various weapons, armor, and equipment that is essential for both Warrior-Hunter and Initiate survival in the Deadlands, as someone began describing virtually everywhere The People had set foot so far. I am amazed at the ingenuity of the Artisan-Laborers who came up with a myriad of ways to make Warrior-Hunter armor out of so many different kinds of material as well as the spear-club and tomahawk. I am fairly certain that, with enough time, I can come up with reasonable facsimiles of the armor and weapons. But I do not know if I am fully comfortable with making bone armor._

_We shall see how it plays out._

* * *

_Journal Entry #6: July 4__th_

_Trainer Achilles, I still sometimes want to call him Lord Achilles because the man exudes nobility from every pore, sent Leann and me into the town to see if we could barter hunks of deer meat for any vegetables or fruit they might have. I also think he chose this moment to let Leann and me visit our respective families or loved ones. We were not accosted by animals looking to steal our meat but our welcome in town was bittersweet at best. Everyone looked at us as though we were strangers and I have to say that it was at this moment that the term Others made perfect sense to me._

_The Others reminded me of nothing so much as helpless sheep waiting for nature, Risen, or robber-baron assholes like Hoag to finish them off._

_My family was enthusiastic to know how I was doing, at least. My mother_ _greeted me with open arms and big, wet kisses. My stepfather also hugged me, something I had never expected from the normally aloof man, and my younger stepsisters started weeping as though they thought I had died. They were staying in one corner of the supermarket, near the cleaned out freezer, and smelled rank. I knew that none of... I have started to think of our small group of People as Myrmidons after the group of warriors Achilles led in the Trojan War, was as clean as we would have been before The End Time but wind and bathing in mountain streams did help our stench. It smelled as though my parents hadn't been touched by wind or rain or any kind of water for weeks. In fact, now that I think about it, the stink of the entire town was almost overwhelming. I was about to ask them where they disposed of waste when I heard angry voices coming towards me._

_Leann was being taunted as she came toward me with tears in her eyes. The image of Leann, wearing the armor of a Warrior-Hunter, bearing a tomahawk, spear-club, and pump action shotgun, near tears was startling to me. The person taunting her was none other than Clem, with the large-chested, empty-headed girl whose name I can never remember clinging to him. Following behind him were his ever constant companions, Robert and Bruce. Ugly words, which I will not defile this journal with, were uttered. Clem and his new girl left the two cronies with Claire. My family tried to pull me away but I only shook my head._

_We were People; they were Others. While I was not a Warrior-Hunter Initiate, it was my duty to help a fellow Myrmidon in whatever manner I could. Robert actually smacked a hand down onto Leann's shoulderpad and laughed right in her face. I, trying to emulate Achilles ever present calm, told Robert to leave our presence immediately. Bruce laughed and came over to utter a sentence containing a racial slur I had rarely heard. Essentially, he told me to mind my own business and go back to my family. When I told him to leave again, his face turned a livid shade, visible even in the dim light of the kerosene lamps scattered around the place. He grabbed me on the shoulder and I told him to get his hands off of me._

_I have to say that I am proud of myself. When he punched me in the gut, I barely even flinched, I let out my breath as Achilles taught me and was amazed at the lack of power in the hit. Bruce's eyes widened and then glazed over once I delivered a beautifully, Leann's words, executed hook to his jaw that knocked him out for a few seconds. Unfortunately Robert nearly knocked me out with a sucker punch and when my blurred vision cleared, I say that Leann had the tip of her spear-club gently poking into Robert's stomach. Her tomahawk pointing at Bruce, she told him in a clear manner, "Take your fellow Other with you and heed my next words well. There will be no hesitation if this _ever_ occurs again. I _will_ spill your blood. Now go."_

_I was proud of her and felt an instant connection with her. She obviously felt the same towards me because after we traded and made it back to our temporary domicile, Leann actually asked Lord Achilles if it was allowed for Initiates to engage in sexual intercourse! Our Lord took one look at us and immediately asked for a report of our trip. We told him as quickly and factually as we could and he nodded. He explained that it wasn't forbidden and if we had the desire, the protection, then he would not stop us. Leann looked at me, I could tell I was flushed with a strange mix of embarrassment and desire_ _as Silent and Claire Marie looked on with interest, and I found myself nodding dumbly._

_Leann took me by the hand, led me to one of the bedrooms on the second floor, and we had an intense, approximately thirty minute long, sex session. I may like the casualness with which The People treat sex. I know Leann definitely does._

* * *

_Journal Entry #6: July 15_

_Something very interesting occurred today. During a training exercise designed to hone the travel-mind, a fascinating concept that I believe is unique to Lord Achilles and he has chosen us to pass it on to, Leann engaged several "Risen" targets, wooden posts, instead of merely bypassing them. Achilles called the exercise over immediately and gathered us on the porch in what I affectionately call a Circle of Learning. He asked us to tell him what we thought a Warrior-Hunter was and not what the books said._

_Silent raised her hand to answer immediately, "__**A noble warrior and protector of The People.**__"_

_Next to answer was Claire Marie, "Warrior-Hunters are those sworn to defend The People's future from all threats."_

_I spoke then, "Warrior_-_Hunters, in their purest sense, are killers."_

_Leann took the longest but her answer was typically intense, even unbalanced, "Hard-ass motherfuckers who take out anybody that fucks with their chance to survive!" She slipped back into modern vernacular more readily than the rest of us._

_Achilles answer took me somewhat by surprise, "You are all right but totally wrong." Then Achilles sighed and closed his eyes, "It is partially the Leaders fault. There has been such an emphasis placed on martial skills that the mental and spiritual training has been neglected."_

_Achilles raised his head then, his eyes were dark and intense as usual, and spoke words I will never forget._

"_The ultimate Warrior-Hunter _is_ hard, noble, and a killer, but they should never box themselves into a specific category. I began this journey with all three of you towards that ideal and this means I want you hard in body but never in mind or spirit. You can train your body to peak efficiency but there will _always_ be a situation that can shatter you if you always act the blunt instrument. You will, you _must_, learn to make the whole of you into a malleable, unstoppable force."_

_This is the moment I truly came to understand the root of Achilles ability to calmly take in any situation and respond with little time wasted._

_Achilles sat up straighter and looked us each in the eye, "The ultimate Artisan-Laborer strives to be a productive worker but this ideal serves just as well, Richard. You must be like water, not stone. A boulder can destroy, yes, but it can be stopped. It can meet a harder, immovable surface, it can become stuck if it's path narrows, it can even sink into mud. Water, though, will seek weaknesses in seemingly impenetrable structures, it moves, it flows, it changes to fit the situation. It can bring healing life or it can smash down upon stone with shattering force. Be like water and anything becomes possible."_

_That was when Leann, as always, burst out, "Even flying?"_

_Lord Achilles actually laughed at that one._

* * *

_Journal Entry #7: July 29__th_

_I am constantly amazed at how far we have all come physically in so short a time. Lord Achilles says it is a combination of our limited diet and constant exercise, but I also think we're all just trying to keep up with Claire Marie. She outclasses us in just about every weapon skill Lord Achilles has taught us, as well as grappling. The style of grappling that Lord Achilles has taught us, in his words, is an amalgamation of judo and Brazilian jiujitsu. I have no idea what this means, but I do know that Claire Marie uses it to toss us all around like ragdolls. If we were on soft gym mats it would be one thing but turned earth barely softer than packed dirt makes all of us Initiates very testy. I am just glad I only have to practice for a half an hour instead of the three the Warrior-Hunter Initiates are required to._

_I have also begun practicing with the spear-club, tomahawk_, _and knife-fighting alongside the Warrior-Hunter Initiates. My training regime in this regard is lighter than theirs but I am required to practice with ranged weapons more. Lord Achilles says that veteran Artisan-Laborers are all highly proficient with a number of firearms and he expects me to excel._

_I accidentally slipped and referred to our little group as Myrmidons today. At first I expected Lord Achilles to laugh derisively but instead he only cocked his head to the side. He said he remembered them from a movie that came out shortly before The End Time and that it was a fitting name for our small sept of People. Then we went back to training without anyone teasing me about my strange notions._

_For the first time in my life, I feel as though I belong._

* * *

_Journal Entry #8: August 15__th_

_Lord Achilles has deemed each of us ready to take our Trials-By-Fire. I am to create branding irons for the Warrior-Hunters and Artisan-Laborer irons for myself. I will need to go into town, possibly loot domiciles, in order to locate the necessary tools for shaping the rods. Lord Achilles will take Claire Marie on her hunt for a battle-trophy she had to earn on her own without armor and armed only with a spear-club and tomahawk. I would not want to challenge Risen without some form of armor but Claire Marie only raised her chin as Lord Achilles outlined the Trial and grinned in the devil-may-care fashion that has seemed to infect us all._

_I am sure we will all pass and earn our markings as People._


	8. Chapter 8

The sky was covered as far as the eye could see by thick, nearly black clouds that were unleashing a modest downpour into the valley. There was still light, but it was faint, and everything was further blurred by the rain. Only those who had no other choice would walk through the woods in this mess.

_Those with no choice or an Initiate of The People,_ Claire Marie thought, as she lay on her stomach just behind a fallen tree.

Claire Marie was not bothered by the rain, as the battle-mind was slowly transplanting the travel-mind, and neither was overly concerned about rainfall. Her chosen targets were only twenty feet away, shambling around in the damp earth beneath them, shielded from the worst of the rain by the canopy above. It had been easy to find this small group of Risen. She and Achilles had simply headed in the direction of The Fort. Achilles had let her lead the way and Claire Marie could read the pride in her Trainer's stance when she signed for them to advance with stealth. The Warrior-Hunter Initiate had crawled her way through muddy puddles that would have certainly disgusted her only a year before without a second thought as she stalked her prey.

There were only four of them, all grossly injured, but each could easily prove deadly to an unarmored Warrior-Hunter. Claire Marie knew that this was as close as she could get and the only reason she had gotten this close without being spotted was because of the weather. If she had been armed with a crossbow, or some other projectile weapon, Claire Marie would certainly have engaged them from long-range before they could close the distance. But this was her Warrior-Hunter Trial-By-Fire and her only weapons were those of close-combat.

_My options are limited and hesitation can get a Warrior-Hunter killed as surely as rash decision,_ Claire Marie chided herself and took several deep breaths as she stood.

The battle-mind, Claire Marie could feel the mental state surrounding her as though it were a blanket, settled heavily upon her as she took her first hop. By the third hop the Risen had become aware of her presence and started shambling quickly towards her. Claire Marie set herself in the opening stance automatically. One foot slightly in front of the other, legs spread for stabilization, her tomahawk held low at her side, while her spear-club was pointed straight at the throat of the fastest Risen.

It seemed to leap the last five feet to Claire Marie, but she was ready. Claire Marie sidestepped to her left, brought the tomahawk around in a vicious swing that nearly severed the Risen's hand at the wrist, spun away as she reversed the grip on the spear-club with a deft twirl, and stabbed her prey through the skull. She twisted her spear-club and drew it messily from the back of the Risen's skull. A swift back-kick propelled it away from her as the next came within striking distance. Claire Marie whipped her weapons down to fling some of the gore from them only to launch herself at the Risen a second later.

The Warrior-Hunter Initiate had propelled herself forward at an angle and the blunt end of her tomahawk made short work of the Risen's already mangled face. It was still trying to bite her as she slid to a halt in the mud with perfect balance thanks to Achilles unrelenting training. Claire Marie jumped high into the air and came down with both heels into the Risen's jaw. The ground was not hard enough to break the skull open but its jaw was completely shattered by the impact. It would have a hard time biting anyone else until she returned to deal with it.

Something shuffling its way through the mud caused Claire Marie to turn her attention to her left. A Risen was lunging at her from less than four feet away. Fear seized her mind for a moment but her body moved of its own accord. She leapt backwards but extended her upper body to allow her spear-club to puncture one its already empty eye sockets. The Risen spasmed so violently that Claire Marie lost her grip on her weapon and was forced to roll back to her feet without it.

The final Risen was a pathetic thing and Claire Marie calmly swept its feet out from under it. She pinned it on its stomach, as she had done to Leann weeks ago, held the back of its neck, and cracked the skull like a nut. Achilles did not make an appearance until Claire Marie had finished off the last of the Risen and collected her battle-trophies. When he did appear, her Leader was suddenly standing in the rain in front of her.

Achilles, in typical fashion, did not say a thing before he roughly embraced her.

"Welcome, sister," Achilles whispered after several moments and Clare Marie tried really hard not to cry.

* * *

Two days later, Claire Marie was sitting in Leann's basement completely nude except for the necklace containing her four battle-trophies. Leann was sitting on her right with her own string of battle-trophies, only two to Claire Marie's four, but more than Silent's one. Achilles had said that Silent actually managed to ambush her Risen target and thus was going to be awarded a special trophy-brand that only Warrior-Hunters with over a hundred kills were given. That had really made Leann fume but a few whispered words from Richard had returned her good mood.

_Though, after this branding, she'll probably be all kinds of pissed off._

Richard was tending the branding irons in the woodstove as Achilles readied the salve. Richard stood and gingerly touched the bandages on his shoulders that were the result of his own branding. He had bit down hard enough to leave permanent impressions in the rubber ball they had put in his mouth but the Artisan-Laborer had not cried out. Achilles had hugged him and welcomed him into The People. Leann had given him a huge, wet kiss in congratulations. Claire Marie had stuck to a firm hug while Silent had surprised them all by giving Richard a kiss almost as enthusiastic as Leann's. Leann had glared at Silent but the young girl had only stuck her tongue out with a rare grin.

Claire Marie was bought back to the present by the sight of Achilles standing before them. There would be no long oaths for this ceremony. After the branding the Trainer would welcome them as brothers and sisters, give them his Mark in whatever form that took, and send them on their way.

"Are you ready?" Achilles asked, his voice deeper than normal, as he looked each of his Initiates in the eye.

Claire Marie met his dark eyes and nodded solemnly.

"Hell, yeah, I've been ready for hours!" Leann piped up while Silent followed Claire Marie's lead.

Achilles smiled slightly at Leann before nodding to Richard.

"You first, Leann, since you have been ready for so long," Achilles said, and Leann's eyes widened in anticipation as her lips set in a determined line.

Leann stood, turned, and sat in the chair with her back to Achilles. Richard went around to the back of the chair and stuffed the rubber ball between Leann's teeth. He secured it with a towel to help muffle any inadvertent screams but screaming would lower her esteem as a Warrior-Hunter and Claire Marie knew Leann would die before she let that happen.

Achilles stoked the fire in the woodstove and removed the first brand. It was an angular W at the end of what had once been a poker. The letter glowed red-hot as Achilles wasted little time in crossing the short distance to Leann and applying the brand to her upper left shoulderblade. Claire Marie kept her eyes forward as Leann's chair creaked from her grip but the woman didn't make a sound. Achilles returned the brand to the fire and rubbed some salve into the fresh brand. Once that was done, he returned to the fire to retrieve the second brand, and Achilles wasted no time in applying the H to Leann's upper right shoulderblade. Claire Marie thought the chair would break this time as the creaking was even louder but Achilles was done quickly. Leann slumped in her chair as Achilles applied the salve and Richard removed the gag.

"Rest now, Leann," Achilles stood and locked gazes with Claire Maire.

Claire Marie nodded and turned around in the seat without a word being spoken. She could hear Richard circling around to her and opened her mouth obediently for the rubber ball. It was only a little damp and still tasted of Leann's mouth, but Claire Marie bit down slightly as Richard covered her mouth with the towel. Claire Marie let the travel-mind settle and her body became a remote tool for locomotion. She could feel, hear, and see with great clarity but it was just slightly surreal. Claire Marie always felt a little disconnected in the travel-mind and she thought it might help.

Claire Marie heard Achilles approaching and relaxed as the brand seared her flesh with that peculiar so-hot-it-feels-cold sensation. He took the brand away and sweat beaded on Claire Marie's forehead instantly. A strong hand rubbed the soothing salve into her shoulder for several moments before being removed. The second branding hurt almost as much as the first but Claire Marie flowed into the pain and soon it was over.

_Two years ago I would have laughed at anyone talking all this mumbo-jumbo shit. Now look at me._

Soon Claire Marie was watching as Silent received her brands. Silent was still gagged despite the fact that she was mute. Achilles was taking no chances on having their hideout discovered by any large group of Risen that was passing through. Once Silent received her Warrior-Hunter brands, Achilles made her stand up, and branded a small stripe into her upper right thigh.

"Rise, Warrior-Hunters, and be welcome," Achilles commanded and Claire Maire and Leann joined Silent. He hugged Silent and whispered in her ear before moving to Claire Marie, "Be welcome, Claire Marie, for you are the most promising of my Initiates and I know you will make me proud." Once he was done with Leann, Achilles stepped back and looked at them all, "I have not decided on a Trainer Mark yet but I have decided that we are now Myrmidons of The People. You are among the finest Warrior-Hunter Initiates I have ever seen and an elite group needs a unique name. Also, this is the time that each of you can choose a new name to be called by, if you wish."

Achilles looked Silent in the eyes, "You have already chosen to cast aside your old life, Silent, and there is no need. From this moment on, you are Silent of the Myrmidon." Next came Claire Marie, "Do you have a name in mind, Claire Marie, or do you choose to keep your own?"

Claire Marie did have a name chosen though she was afraid of looking childish, but how many of them would even know the source of her name, "Alanna."

Achilles grinned hugely and Claire Marie instantly knew that _he_ was aware of the source of her name, "The Lioness of the Myrmidon, a good name. From this moment on, Claire Marie no longer exists. You are now Alanna of the Myrmidon." Last came Leann, "Do you have a name in mind or would you like to keep your old?"

Leann took a look at Alanna and Silent, "I wish to have a new name, Lord Achilles, but I have none in mind."

Claire Marie was surprised that Achilles let the use of Lord slip, but they all had been slipping over the past couple of weeks so he was probably tired of telling them to stop.

Achilles gently placed a hand on her shoulder, "From this moment on Leann no longer exists. You will be known as Tempest of the Myrmidon."

To Claire Marie's surprise, Achilles turned to Richard, "Normally, we do not give Artisan-Laborers new names but I feel as though you have come so far in so short a time that you should be given the opportunity. Would you like one?" Richard surprised her, and himself judging by his facial expression, when he nodded. "From this moment on Richard Denton no longer exists. You will be known as Tzu of the Myrmidon."

Achilles paused for a moment and unshed tears glistened in his eyes, "I could not have asked for a better group to travel with."

Claire Marie, she knew it would take some to get used to her new name, would have expected them all to share a group hug or something equally cheesy. But they were People now, more everyday, and dramatic emotional displays were not something that People indulged in.

Richard knelt suddenly and bowed his head, "The honor is ours, Achilles."

Claire Marie and the others quickly followed their fellow Myrmidon's lead.

"I know you will all uphold the honor of the Myrmidon and make me proud."

_I will make you proud, Achilles._

* * *

There was a flash of numbing pain in Claire Marie's spear-club arm as something jarred the armor right over her funny bone. She almost turned with a glare at the offending person but movement to her left caught her eye. Silent was shuffling towards her, arms outstretched, mouth agape, in imitation of one of the Risen attacking her. Claire Marie ducked beneath the arms and came up with the blunt point of her spear-club towards Silent's chin. She checked the motion and allowed Silent to stumble away without a scratch. Claire Marie backed up to her previous position and stumbled into her battle-partner.

Leann growled something obscene, probably, and slammed her back into Claire Marie's. Claire Marie stumbled forward slightly and into the waiting arms of Richard.

"Time!" Achilles barked and Richard let her go quickly.

Achilles face was like a thundercloud as he descended upon a resolute Leann, "Just what did you think you were doing, Tempest?"

Tempest, Claire Marie still thought of everyone by their Other names, raised her chin stubbornly, "This was the second time she stumbled into me and disturbed by stance. I removed her before she got me killed."

Achilles eyes narrowed, "Alanna, how many times did Tempest accidentally hit you with her tomahawk or spear-club."

Claire Marie thought for a second, "Approximately ten."

Achilles closed the distance between him and Leann, "And how many times did you even _notice_, Warrior-Hunter Tempest?"

Leann's lowered her chin and downcast her eyes, "None, Lord Achilles."

"That's right, none. Twenty-five laps. Full armor and pack. Go."

Leann pounded her fist to her breast before jogging out of the battle-circle whose boundary was marked by rocks. Achilles had insisted that they all learn how to maintain an effective perimeter against surrounding Risen in teams of two. It was a failing he had noticed among Warrior-Hunters engaging large numbers of Risen in open battle. The Warrior-Hunters tended to get in each other's way when forced into smaller and smaller clusters as they fought. Unfortunately, Silent and Leann were having a bit of difficultly learning how to move in the four-meter wide circle with another person. Claire Marie and Achilles, as usual, were making huge leaps in ability with every day of practice.

"Rest for a few minutes, Alanna, then start your strength training."

"May I have a word, Achilles?" Richard asked, running a hand over his recently shaved head.

"Yes, what it is, Tzu?"

Claire Marie sank to her rear and placed her palms flat on the ground as Richard began to speak.

"I was thinking that the battle-circle might work better if the Warrior-Hunters had shields."

Achilles nodded, "Before I left, there was talk of such among Memnon's group, but I do not know how it worked. We didn't try shields before because the Risen were too fast and too strong just after The End Time. We didn't want anything too large that they could use to immobilize us, but you may be right. Shields may prove useful in these days. Do you think you could come up with a lightweight design, Tzu?"

Richard rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "I think I have some ideas. I may need to seek the skills of Others for this and for the bone armor I am making for Leann and Silent."

Achilles nodded, "Do what you must, Tzu, for the greater good of your People and the Myrmidon."

Richard nodded and headed back towards the house.

"He's come along nicely, hasn't he, Achilles?" Claire Marie mused as she watched the sole Artisan-Laborer of the Myrmidon stride into their temporary domicile.

"Yes. You all have, Alanna."

Alanna did not even attempt to contain her grin at his praise.

Achilles barked laughter, "Do not let it get to your head. It is big enough already."

Alanna grin grew even larger, "Was that a joke?"

"Come. Let us begin our strength training," Achilles offered Claire Marie a hand but she was on her feet before the final syllable eased passed his lips.

There was no sway to her walk that was a conscious effort, no extra bounce in her step to draw attention to her ass, but Alanna definitely felt eyes on her backside. She turned her head and her gaze met Achilles' guileless expression but Alanna knew that she had felt the man taking the lay of her land.

_Now, that could be very interesting,_ Alanna thought with an inner giggle that was very unbecoming of a Warrior-Hunter.


	9. Chapter 9

It was a lonely patch of road that ran through a field of short grass. The sun had risen only a short time before, a light fog slowly dissipating under its rays, and the air hummed with an ethereal chant that a person could feel deep in their bones. Unfortunately, the only beings witness to the invigorating morning was a group of twenty-three zombies making their shambling way down the increasingly worn road. Whatever had lured them in this direction was not important, only that they were there, at that moment, had any significance at all.

Four figures rose silently into view from a small declivity they had hidden behind. Though the predatory tenseness that each exuded made it very unlikely that they had been seeking cover so much as stalking their chosen prey. Two of the four were dressed in a rust-colored assortment of football gear and homemade armor of a sort. The other two were garbed in far more barbaric trappings. Armor with bones woven into their structures protected their torsos while leather protectors secured in place with odd wrappings guarded their thighs, shins, and arms. Elbows and knees were shielded by grayish-black pads marked with odd symbols. All four of their heads were protected by helmets that left only a strip in front of their eyes uncovered.

The first of the zombies spotted the four, tilted its head, and lurched toward them with a aching moan for human flesh. That single zombie galvanized his fellow creatures into action but the quartet waited patiently as the faster zombies outpaced their more decrepit brethren. One of the four removed a tomahawk-like weapon from their hip, reached over their shoulder, and drew a short spear from its place beneath the round shield on their back. As though they were one organism, the other three brandished their own weapons.

"Remember," the leader, who had drawn his weapons first, spoke in a heavy voice, "Flow."

The other three slapped their tomahawks to their chests and spread out into pairs. The pair on the right, one in the more modern armor while the other was one of the more barbaric in appearance, moved at least twenty feet away from the pair on the left. Without hesitation, the zombies split down the middle in their single-minded quest for flesh. Each of these strange fighters, for that was what they clearly were, rooted themselves to a spot approximately seven feet away from their partner. All four assumed nearly identical stances before hopping in bizarrely synchronous action. Soon after this ritual was done, the first zombie reached the pair on the left.

The two fighters hopped away, spun so that their shields faced each other, and smashed the zombie between their bodies with brutal force. Bones audibly snapped and the zombie stumbled listlessly forward to fall on its face. One of the figures leaped into the air to bring a boot heel down into the zombies neck while the other turned to confront the next foe. This zombie reached out to grab the shorter fighter's shoulders and was rewarded by having its hand half-severed at the wrist by a vicious chop from the tomahawk. Ducking slightly to avoid the wild swing of the zombie's other arm, the fighter stood as the zombie turned and tripped the male creature. The spear, resembling a spike more than an actual spear, was thrust into the back of the zombie's head as it fell, but was subsequently lost as the creature fell twitching to the ground. There was no hesitation as the fighter dropped to one knee to slide the shield off their back. A zombie seemed to loom over the kneeling person out of nowhere, its teeth gnashing menacingly, before having said teeth smashed in by the other fighter leaping forward to deliver a powerful blow.

Now, as the first fighter strapped their shield tight to their forearm, the second fighter became death incarnate as they tore their way through the remaining zombies. Once the first fighter stood, there were only three coming, but they were all coming directly at them. The shield was light, the core wooden, but it had heavy metal edges and a small spike in its center. Odd holes, just large enough for a big hand to fit through, were located on opposing sides of the shield.

The lead zombie reached out to grab the fighter's shoulders, a standard tactic of the undead, but the shield came over and down across both of the zombie's arms. There was a harsh cracking sound, the zombie lurched forward, and right into the upthrust of the same shield. Cartilage shattered and thick ichor flew as the shield pulverized the zombie's face. One swing of the tomahawk finished caving in its face. The last zombie was a pathetic thing barely dragging a mangled leg behind it. There was even time for the fighter to slid their tomahawk back into its loop and retrieve their spear. One powerful thrust was enough to finish it off. Silence filled the air now, as did the scent of putrid undead flesh, as the four figures once again came together.

Not a word was spoken, for none were needed or appropriate, instead they pounded their blood-stained weapons to their chests and then into the air.

* * *

Achilles and Silent kept watch as the others collected their battle-trophies. Achilles let his gaze rove the area for threats as he felt something that was almost completely alien to him. Pride in his former Initiates prowess in combat, their dedication, even Tempest retaining her outlandish habit for energetic outbursts despite her personal tragedy, was causing an unfamiliar feeling deep inside his chest.

_I never understood the term 'bursting with pride' but I think I do now._

Once Tempest and Alanna retrieved their battle-trophies, the team quickly made their way back to what had become their home over the last few months. Tzu was standing at the door, his expression anxious, as soon as they came within sight.

"What is it, Tzu?" Achilles asked as soon as they were all inside.

Tzu looked embarrassed but took a bracing breath and called, "Sarah, come out."

Achilles fully removed his helmet and raised his eyebrows as a tall, buxom, blonde girl came into the room. He had also been about to ask Tzu what the Artisan-Laborer had been cooking that stank so abysmally, but the answer had walked into the room. The stench coming from the girl was awful and she seemed to know it if the shy way she looked at the Warrior-Hunters was any indication. It was hard to tell if it was the filthy jeans and tanktop the girl wore or her flesh. Silent clapped her hands once for attention before Signing.

**She seems awfully white to be his sister.**

**She's my step-sister, Silent. Her hair's dyed.** Tzu Signed back with an irritated glare.

**Enough,** Achilles cut them off. **Tzu, please explain.**

"This is my sister, Sarah. She can tell you," Tzu said, waving his sister closer, "Don't be afraid, sis, they are family. No one will hurt you, no matter what you say, trust me."

Sarah made a face at her brother, "You talk even weirder than before."

"What has happened, Other?!" Tempest, living up to her new name, barked.

Sarah jumped and began speaking quickly, "Hoag and his men have come into town. They say that The Fort got overrun and they retreated back to our town. They brought a bunch of workers with them, but everyone says they treat them like slaves and whores! Dad told me and Diana to run away, but they caught Diana and took her back to town. I heard gunshots but I keep running!"

Tzu reached over and gently hugged his sister, "I heard a couple of gunshots too and before that there was what sounded like an explosion. I assume you four were otherwise engaged not to have noticed."

Achilles nodded, "Then it is time for us to go. We are ready."

Silent and Tempest shared a look that did not go unnoticed by Achilles.

"We have not talked about this matter but I thought you two had accepted that the Myrmidon were your new family. Was I wrong?"

**Hoag **_**will**_** pay for what he has done. I am, and will always be, Myrmidon. But I have to seek vengeance for my Other family. I have to.**

"My sister might be down there, Lord Achilles. I will save her and she will join the Myrmidon. This I swear to you on my honor as a Warrior-Hunter."

Achilles ground his teeth in silent frustration. He could not believe he had been so foolish as to believe Silent and Tempest would so readily accept the fact that their old lives were gone forever. Even Tzu had seemed as though he had finally realized the truth but Achilles hopes for those three were all but dashed. They had been Warrior-Hunters for less than two weeks and now he would be forced to expel them from the ranks.

_I actually let myself like them, enjoy their company. They have softened me. I can not have that_, Achilles could practically feel his face tightening as he systematically killed any emotional attachment he may have had to those three. Alanna beat him to the punch though.

"Achilles, can I talk to you in private?" she asked and Achilles nodded his assent.

Alanna led him to one of the bedrooms upstairs and shut the door behind them.

"So, what do you want to do?" Alanna asked, leaning against the door.

Achilles raised an eyebrow, "What can we do? They want to risk their lives, our lives, for vengeance and a chance to save Others. We are their family now. We gave them a place, a Path, and they turn their backs on it at the first sign of their old life."

Alanna came forward and suddenly clasped Achilles hands in her own. It was only then that he noticed that his hands were trembling slightly.

"It's okay, Achilles, really. We _are_ a family now, but it is up to us to make sure that we remain so."

Achilles lowered his forehead to Alanna's, "I have to be strong, Alanna. The Myrmidon have to be united, there is strength in unity, and already I feel us slipping apart."

"We can hold them together, Achilles, we just have to be strong. We must help them so that they have a chance to succeed and then we can leave this place to rejoin The People."

_You make me soft, Alanna, but maybe that is not so bad a thing. Maybe I have been too inflexible, too much the rock, and not enough water._

Achilles nodded, "Okay."

Alanna released his hands and raised her head to brush his lips with hers.

"I believe in you, Lord Achilles," she practically breathed into his mouth.

Desire flared within Achilles like a megaton bomb. He quickly quelled the urge to start ripping Alanna's armor off and ravish her against a wall. Something, maybe it was the way Alanna's head was tilted and her eyes partially closed, told him that she would not protest in the slightest. There was no time for that now. The Myrmidon were needed and they had to move quickly.

"Thank you, Lioness."

Alanna laughed and quickly led the way back downstairs. The others looked at the two of them nervously as they stood side-by-side.

"The Myrmidon shall come to the aid of these Others," Achilles said, and just barely caught a leaping Tempest as she hurled herself into his arms.

"Thank you, Achilles, thank you!"

Silent was, aptly, silently hugging Alanna while Tzu and his sister embraced.

"Okay, enough of that," Achilles snapped, "You are Myrmidons. Retain your reserve, always."

Silent, Tempest, and Tzu all freed themselves from their various situations quickly then.

"Tzu, take stock of all of our provisions, ammunition, etcetera. I want it all ready for immediate relocation should the need arise. Tempest, Alanna, I want all of our weapons cleaned and ready for use. Police the area around the domicile, check the traps, and make sure we have clean lines of fire. I don't expect company but it never hurts to be sure. Silent, you're with me."

"What about me... Lord Achilles?" Tzu's sister asked.

Achilles fixed her with a level stare, "Stay by your brother. Assist him. Now, let's get to work."

* * *

Mike Hausse was point-man in the three-man patrol "General" Hoag had ordered up this particular stretch of valley.

_Man, these fucking bugs are killing me,_ Mike thought for the hundredth time as he slapped at the back of his neck.

Big Mike and Dave, the other two guys in his patrol, had their helmets off too but didn't seem as bothered. They were from around this place somewhere but Mike was from Baltimore and all this rustic living was getting to him. Though having free women to fuck was a great bonus. That was one thing the "General" had done that Mike thought was a great idea. A lot of the girls gladly gave it up for the protection The Fort offered. Some of them were a little resistant but there were too many other prospects to waste too much time on them. Big Mike, Dave and some of the guys had liked the fighters but that wasn't _his_ problem.

"I still don't understand why the fuck _we_ have to go through these houses," Dave asked for the _millionth_ time. "Didn't we already come through here when we still had gas for all the trucks?"

Big Mike took a slow drag of his cigarette before turning to fix Dave with an angry stare, "Yeah, but the General wants us to make another sweep to check for squatters that we can use to build up the defenses and maybe some gas stores or some shit like that. Right, corporal?"

"Yeah, Big Mike, but why couldn't he wait until this fuckin' heat wave broke?!" Mike took a second to rub the sweat from his soaked hair, "I feel like I'm about to pass the fuck out even with these light packs."

"I can't wait to get back to camp. You believe how many fuckers managed to get out of The Fort? Thank God they were too stupid to keep runnin'!" Dave chuckled quietly, "There's this little blonde that puts up just enough fight to make it fun. Hey, Big Mike, remember when I stuck it in her ass while you were fuckin' her face!? Aw, that shit was fun! Whoo!"

"Not for me!" Big Mike snorted, "Bitch nearly bit my fuckin' dick off! You've got to warn me before you do some shit like that, stupid shi-"

Big Mike was cut off by a meaty _thwack! _and Dave started to freak out.

"Man down! Man down! Where the fuck are they?!"

Mike turned just in time to see something streak through the air to hit Dave in the head with enough force to make him spin like a top before crashing over the guardrail on his left. Mike thumbed off the safety on his assault rifle and spun on one knee in the direction of the steep embankment on their right. Trees and thick scrub brush provided far too much cover. It being higher elevation did not help him find the shooter any better.

_Fuck it._ Mike thought and was about to just start firing when a faint noise made him turn his head to the side.

Mike did not even have time to form a coherent thought before a boot caught him flush in the jaw.

* * *

Achilles looked down at the kid, teenager really, that he had just kicked into unconsciousness. The corporal, if he had heard correctly, looked to be nineteen at the most. He was skinny too, probably moreso after their food stores started getting low, with greasy looking brown hair. His gear, armor and all, was disgustingly filthy but seemed properly maintained otherwise. The other thing that was interesting to note was that the corporal was a member of the National Guard, not the Army.

_That figures though. Most of the Army is overseas, hell a lot of the National Guard is over there too, so most of these bastards are probably fresh out of boot or officers in command of the depots or whatever the fuck they call them. Still though, this patrol was sloppy and the men undisciplined. I would have expected more from soldiers of any sort._

Silent snapped her fingers to get Achilles attention from over where her crossbow bolt had taken Big Mike in the collarbone. Silent had taken his weapons, though she had simply kicked the light SAW away from him, and now watched as he tried to take the bolt out with pained whimpers.

**What should I do with him?** Silent asked, her eyes even larger and more luminescent in her dirt-crusted face.

**Slit his throat.** Silent hesitated and Achilles glared at her for a moment, **Killing those you have sworn vengeance against is something you will have to get used to. Better sooner than later.**

**But, he's defenseless, it's cold-blooded murder.**

**Did you hear them? They took pleasure in others pain, were accomplices in the murder of dozens of people, and I am sure they abandoned countless more once their Fort was overrun.**

Achilles thought that Silent might be crying but he could not be sure from this distance, **I am weak. Mercy is for the weak and I do not know if I can kill him.**

**No, Silent! Mercy is a privilege that only the strong can afford! We, outnumbered and outgunned, can afford none. You are a Warrior-Hunter, Myrmidon, you will do as you must.**

Silent turned back to the writhing soldier who had slumped in defeat at his failure to remove the bolt. He spat up a wad of blood and looked up at Silent as she drew the knife sheathed at her shoulder.

"No," he gurgled, "Please, don't-"

The man, tall and muscular, pushed Silent away as she knelt to do her duty. Big Mike pushed himself to his feet with a groan and started screaming for help. Achilles watched dispassionately, even after Silent turned to him in confusion before racing after the man. Silent unslung her crossbow from her back on the run and fired. The bolt hit Big Mike right in the left buttock and he fell flat on his face. Silent dropped her crossbow and put on a burst of speed that had her right behind the man as he rose onto one knee. Her stroke was just as Achilles had taught her, smooth and strong, while she held the man's chin up to present the best cutting surface. Silent watched the man bleed out, Achilles could tell she had severed the carotid by the amount of blood soaking into the ground, for several minutes before turning back to Achilles. Her movements were stiff and mechanical as she came back to him. Achilles placed a hand on her shoulderpad and looked deep into her pale eyes.

"Well done."

* * *

Alanna watched as Achilles dragged the soldier down the stairs like a sack of potatoes. The man was conscious, his hands and feet were tied, and wiggled like a fish as he was unceremoniously kicked into a corner.

"Tzu, take your sister and stand sentry. This is a task for Warrior-Hunters alone," Achilles ordered over his shoulder.

"Come on, Sarah," Tzu led his sister back upstairs and shut the door behind them.

Alanna, Achilles, Silent and Tempest gathered around the soldier as he curled himself into the corner. Achilles removed his gag swiftly and the man, he looked more like an awkward teenager really, immediately began screaming.

"Tempest," Achilles called as he watched the young man scream for help, "Make him stop."

Tempest jumped and looked at their Leader with wide eyes.

"How?"

"Whatever way you think is best. Just leave him conscious and capable of speech."

Tempest began to hyperventilate but Silent slapped her in the face before it got very far.

**Focus. We are Warrior-Hunters, Myrmidon, and we do as we must. Do as our Lord Achilles wishes.**

Tempest nodded and took a moment to study the still screaming man. Then, with only the slightest bit of hesitation, Tempest raised her boot and brought it down hard into his crotch. The screaming stopped and was replaced by soft choking noises as their captive convulsed from the pain.

"Now that I have your attention, corporal," Achilles whispered as he squatted close to the soldier, "You should know that we do not wish to cause you undue pain, torture is not something The People condone, but we will have answers from you one way or another. If you answer our questions truthfully, we will release you at the appropriate time, I swear it on my honor as a Myrmidon. Do you understand?"

The man coughed several times, tears sliding down his dirty face, before glaring up at Achilles with dark brown eyes, "Yeah," his voice was dry and hoarse, "But do _you_ understand who you're fucking with. There're over two hundred badass motherfuckers that'll be looking for me in a couple hours. You and your crew are gonna be dead meat if you don't let me go."

"That was your first lie, you only get three, so use the other two well. Once you go past three we start taking off body parts."

"I'm not lying."

"Two," Achilles turned to Alanna, "Shears."

Alanna handed Achilles a pair of rusty pruning shears and tried not to flinch at the panicked look in the soldier's eyes.

"Okay, okay, but how did you know I was lying?" the corporal's voice was bitter, low, and defeated.

"We have scouted your Fort and we know there were barely one hundred soldiers fit for combat two months ago. There must have been casualties, judging by your relocation, and the fact that your patrol was a mere three men."

"What do you want to know?"

"How many men are in the town?"

"Thirty, I think," Achilles face went stony and the captive started sweating, "Look, I'm tellin' you the truth. There was a lot of confusion when we bugged out. I'm not sure how many of us made it."

"What kind of weapons do they have access to? Explosives?"

"I don't know about the explosives. General Hoag kept all that shit to himself. Every man's got an M-16 and a sidearm of some sort with enough ammo to last for another year. They've got jeep and hummer mounted machine guns, a shitload of bolt-action rifles, some sniper rifles, and four or five grenade launchers. All with plenty of ammo."

Achilles cocked his head to the side, "That was three. One more and I'm going to take your pinky off."

"But-"

"If everyone had that much ammo, you wouldn't have been carrying just one extra magazine for your assault rifle. Remember, one more time, and then I start trimming."

The corporal's eyes widened to the point that Alanna thought they might pop out of their sockets, "We used up most of the ammo trying to kill those zombies! I swear!"

Achilles nodded, " How many men will be coming for you?"

Tears started to slide down the terrified man's cheeks, "I don't know. They d-d-didn't really have time to come up with a plan. Hoag said nobody would mess with us."

"Are all of the soldiers around your age?"

"Yeah, Hoag's the only one over thirty."Achilles stood and handed Alanna the shears. "You said you'd let me go."

Achilles nodded, "Yes, I did." He turned to Tempest, "Release him."

Achilles tapped the hilt of his spear-club as he said it and Tempest's eyebrows rose.

**You want me to kill him?**

**Yes, we will release him to his afterlife.**

**But, do we really have to. Look at him. We could keep him locked up until it's over.**

Achilles stepped closer to Tempest, **You want to save your sister? Then you will have to kill many men, just as young as he is, to achieve your goal. This is the first step upon the Path you have chosen. Do as you must, Myrmidon.**

Tempest took a deep breath as Achilles handed her some kind of wire stretched between two bone-white handles.

**Make it quiet.**

Achilles rolled the man over, his face tear-streaked but hopeful, and stepped back to let Tempest do her duty. Tempest's hands shook as she walked towards the condemned man. She stepped over his body, his hips between her feet, and stood there with the handles clenched in her fists.

"Release him, Tempest. Now," Achilles said, his voice quietly commanding.

Tempest mounted the soldier's back and whipped the cord around his neck in a flash. The man's eyes bulged and his tongue extended as the Myrmidon pulled back on the handles.

"Cross the handles and then twist, Tempest."

Tempest did as she was told and the soldier started bucking as though he were a horse. Alanna knew, from many grappling matches with Tempest, how strong the woman's thighs were. If his hands had been free he might have been able to fight the Warrior-Hunter off, but there was no way he was dislodging Tempest from her position bound as he was. The soldier's face started turning red, then purple, as he frantically tried to suck in air through a constricted windpipe. Tempest's eyes were wide and unfocused as the man settled into jerky twitching. No one moved as his bowels and bladder spontaneously voided. Finally, at least five minutes later by Alanna's estimation, the body was completely still and Tempest got off of it. She moved as if in a trance but Silent was there once again slapping her in the face. Tempest came back to herself with a start and immediately slapped Silent back.

"Well done, Tempest. Well done."

Tempest embraced Silent fiercely as tears fell from her eyes. Silent began crying as well as she was pushed into a wall by Tempest. The two of them fell into a corner and the next thing Alanna knew they were kissing with almost desperate fervor. She turned to Achilles but the only answer she received was a shrug.

"Let's get rid of the body. They need some time, I think."

Alanna nodded, "Yes, but they could have at least waited until we disposed of the body. Fuck."

Achilles chuckled, "Well, some people have peculiar reactions to their first human kill."

"Yes, it would appear so."


	10. Chapter 10

Alanna clasped Silent's hand tightly as they approached the packed-dirt barricade the Other soldiers were building. She did not have to try very hard to feign nervousness and doubted Silent had to either. The Warrior-Hunter _did_ have to bite down on a sneer of disgust when the pair was merely five meters away before someone turned to pee over the side before spotting them.

"Hold it right there!" the man shouted, his voice almost a squeal of delight as he buttoned his pants so quickly he spotted them. "'Ey, sarge, get a load of these two!"

Less than a minute later, all of the young soldiers had abandoned their posts to surround the women. Alanna and Silent huddled together as the overbearing men whooped at what they saw.

_One would think these pigs had never seen a half-naked woman_, Alanna thought as she struggled mightily to contain her disgust.

"Back off, you fuckin' pukes! Let me see what we've got ourselves here!" the man's accent was definitely not local but he certainly eyed them with the same hungry stare as his subordinates.

"Please, s-s-sir... can you help us?" Alanna worked up a couple of sobs to make her acting more believable and hoped that it paid off. She had not been in drama back in high school and the most acting she had ever done was faking orgasms.

The sergeant, at least she assumed he was because his uniform was so dirty and patched there were no chevrons to be seen, circled them while he spoke, "Who would do this to two such lovely things as yourselves?"

Alanna knew that the two of them looked a terrible mess, which made the soldiers sexual interest all the more bizarre, especially when someone got a look at the mass of fresh lashes on their backs. The sweat pouring down Alanna's back made her superficial injuries sting fiercely and she did not restrain her winces as she normally would.

"Some sicko was holding us prisoner," Alanna shuddered, "He made us work and beat us if we didn't."

"Oh," the short, burly man asked mildly, "What sort of work did you do?"

The way he said it made her skin crawl but Alanna played her part by ducking her head shyly, "All kinds."

The sergeant grunted and looked around at the seven men gathered around them, "Get your asses back to your fucking posts! What'd'ya think this is?! A motherfuckin' party!?"

All of the soldiers grumbled quietly among themselves but slowly made their way back to their posts.

"Alright, I don't have time to present you to the General, so you're just gonna have to join the other citizens under our protection. Follow the main road and you'll come to a dirt lot. Ask for Corporal Jones and he'll find ya better clothes and some food and show you how things work around here."

_I just bet,_ Alanna thought as she tried not to meet the positively lecherous stare of the sergeant with her 'killing-glare' as Achilles called it.

Alanna led Silent down the road sandwiched between the shoulder-height barricades. Several sentries followed their progress with fevered gazes but Alanna did her best to look meek and downtrodden.

Suddenly, someone whistled, "Nice ass!"

That set off an avalanche of cheering and catcalls that the sergeant didn't even try to rein in. Most of them were merely "compliments" about the women's bodies despite the fact that they were bruised and bloody. But there was one that almost made Alanna turn back and charge at the offender with murderous intent.

"I am _so_ going to fuck the _shit_ out of you later, shorty!"

Silent squeezed her hand tightly and Signed quickly, **Soon we will get our chance. Patience.**

Alanna squeezed back and increased her pace toward the small town center. The first thing that struck Alanna as they neared the town was the smell. It was a foul miasma of unwashed bodies, rancid food, and waste. There were several armored vehicles, with machine guns on top, that looked as though they had been abandoned in the ditches on either side of the road. People were working to haul dirt to the barricade the soldiers were erecting and clear the fields of high grass. The narrow road, which looked barely big enough for opposing lanes, became increasingly cluttered with abandoned cars as well as garbage. What also struck Alanna in a foreboding fashion was the lack of people moving in the open.

_The majority of the Others must be working on the defenses,_ Alanna thought as they passed a small motel that had been gutted by a fire.

Once they reached the lot, nearly in the center of town, the barrels of two mounted machine guns greeted them. Though, and it amused Alanna greatly, the trucks themselves were pointing towards the sea of tents covering the dirt lot.

A tall man with dull brown eyes and a filthy beard hopped off the back of one of the trucks.

"Damn," he grunted as he circled the women, "Jackson said there was some fine ass on the way, but damn."

Alanna flinched away when the man ran dirty fingertips down one arm. Silent clung to her, trembling slightly, but Alanna knew it was not fear that the young woman was struggling to contain.

_It's a little scary how quickly the instinct to fight, to kill, has become who we are._

"Hey, bitch, I'm _talking_ to you!" Corporal Jones snarled and Alanna forgot her role for a moment.

The Myrmidon looked at the grimy hand of the Other calmly before raising her eyes to meet his. Something in that gaze caused sweat to being beading on his forehead. Once again, it was as if Silent read Alanna's mind because the older Warrior-Hunter was only _thinking_ of jamming her thumb into the Other's left eye, when Silent suddenly squeezed Alanna's arms to her sides. Alanna turned to look at her sister and Silent shook her head slowly.

Alanna choked back a growl of frustration and bowed her head.

"I'm sorry, sir," she mumbled.

"Don't let it happen again, bitch!" the Other barked, his flagging machismo coming back in full force, " And what about this cunt? Doesn't she talk?!"

"She's a deaf mute, sir."

"Well that's fuckin' great, "the man leaned towards Silent, "Can you read lips?"

The Other spoke slowly and loudly enough that Alanna had to fight the giggles. Silent nodded quickly and the man grinned wickedly.

"Well, you'd better do what I say, or I'll break you and this other bitch in five or six fucking pieces. You understand?" Silent had barely nodded before the obnoxious Other was speaking again, "Hobbs! You've got the command 'til I get back!"

Corporal Jones waved for them to follow him and sauntered into the haphazardly organized campsite. The ground was suspiciously muddy in places and Alanna had a feeling it was where people were pissing wherever an open spot was available.

_This place is a hairbreadth from an outbreak of disease._

The only people she saw were several children and younger women. It did not escape her attention that all the women would have been considered very attractive in the days when showers were easily taken. One, whose facial features had been drilled into Silent and Alanna's minds repeatedly just before they left their fellow Myrmidons, looked up from sewing a garment. Both of the Warrior-Hunters kept their faces forward but Alanna firmly rooted the location of Tempest's sister's possible tent in her mind. Jones finally stopped in front of a tent from which strangled grunting was emanating. Alanna's heart started pounding and cold sweat broke out on her face. She knew what those sounds were.

"Hey, Burton, get your ass off your bitch and get the fuck out here!" Jones barked and the grunting stopped.

"Just a second, Jones, fuck!"

"Hurry the fuck up, Burton!"

The grunting started again, louder and faster this time, only to end in a gravelly growl that lasted for several seconds. Less than a minute later, a pot-bellied, shirtless man emerged. His face was bright red beneath the beard and mustache that covered the majority of his face. His light brown eyes were narrowed in irritation but a smile creased his face when he saw what Jones had brought him.

_You would think these Others had not just lost their base, watched their comrades be eaten alive, or faced the very real possibility of meeting the same fate._ Alanna thought as the desire to kill both men throbbed within her chest.

"Well, well, I guess you girls need some clothes, huh?" Burton asked, his crooked smile revealed broken, yellow teeth, "Melissa! Get your ass out here and bring that bag of spare camo!"

A woman dragged a huge duffel bag out of the tent and straightened with a wince. She was tall, buxom, and looked as though she had lost a lot of weight recently. Melissa did not meet Alanna's eyes, instead dropping them, as she hastily made her way towards the Pizza Hut across the street.

"Alright, find some shit in your sizes, or as close as you can get them and then get out of here. I need a nap."

Alanna and Silent knelt to do as Burton had said. The jungle camo was just as dirty as everything else in the place but neither had much choice in the matter of clothing. Soon they had slipped on pants and shirts that were slightly too big for their frames.

"Don't be late for your fucking watch again, Burton, or I'll have the General ream you a new asshole."

Burton's eyes narrowed and his face got even redder, "Get the fuck out of here, Jones, before I knock your ass out _again_."

"Come on!" Jones barked at Silent and Alanna as he headed towards the opposite end of the camp.

Jones stopped at a small tent facing a ditch, "You two can bunk here. Lunch is in an hour. There's water barrels in the center of the camp and someone's assigned to them. Listen for the bell and go towards the supermarket to get some chow. Rest up good because you guys will probably be pretty busy tonight after dinner."

The way the Other spoke his last words sent a shiver down Alanna's spine. Inside the tent, they discovered a soiled mat of some kind over which lay equally filthy comforters. Silent zipped the flaps behind them and immediately started Signing.

**He was raping her, wasn't he?** Silent asked, her face twisted in anger, but the expression smoothed out as she watched Alanna nod, **Are you okay?**

It took a moment for Alanna to respond, **I will be after tonight.**

* * *

Dinner was a decidedly anticlimactic affair in Alanna's opinion. She and Silent had skipped lunch in order to prepare themselves for their mission. They had preformed a quick reconnaissance of the town, careful to avoid the soldiers, and eventually made their way back to the tent to await the dinner bell. The Other laborers filtered back to town shortly before sunset and immediately formed a line that began at the formerly automated doors of the supermarket. Alanna and Silent were at the end of the line.

**Why rush?** Silent asked with quick, efficient movements.

Alanna shrugged but they got their answer as one of the soldiers up front barked, "Ten minutes to get your chow, so keep it movin', and no bitchin' if you want this shit!"

Shit was too polite a term, Alanna discovered, once the stench of whatever was simmering at the serving table reached her nose. She was glad the travel-mind was not upon her because the smell might have made her vomit. The two Myrmidon watched as the line of people cursed and fought for a chance to eat whatever was producing the noxious odor.

Someone banged loudly on a pot just before the pair got to the table. The server, a hound-faced woman in her forties, sneered at them.

"You and your lezzie friend are a lil' late. Get the fuck outta here!"

Silent took one look in the huge pot and made a face. Alanna peered inside and saw a thick, gray-brown soup with bits of what could have been pig fat floating in it.

"Big loss," Alanna sneered right back, snatched Silent's hand and quickly retreated.

Both of them had filled up before leaving and their training included subsisting on a single meal a day. Soon, one way or another, there would be no need to worry about dealing with obnoxious Others in order to eat. Alanna was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she almost didn't spot the "Mayor" and several of his cronies in time. Among them were two tall men in impressively clean, parade-ground uniforms. Alanna didn't know much about ranks, or how to tell them apart, but she assumed one of the bastards was Hoag.

Alanna and Silent quickly made a detour into the ditch that ran alongside the campsite. There was a trickle of liquid running through it that smelled of a combination of piss and shit. It was a fairly sharp drop-off and the night was pitch-black even this close to the town. Alanna would have been much more comfortable in her armor, especially since it was painted for just this sort of thing, and slipped the shiv she had made earlier from a screwdriver out of her boot.

"-Mayor. Those're my orders and you damn well better follow them. You remember what happened to your last assistant, don't you?" one of the men, Hoag Alanna assumed, said as they stopped close to the ditch.

Two of the men stepped almost to the edge, one of them nearly on top of Alanna, and seconds later streams of urine were arcing into the air. None of them hit either Myrmidon, but there was a fine mist that Alanna had no doubt was coating them both. Once the men were done, they headed off towards the supermarket. Alanna let out a silent sigh of relief after several minutes and replaced her boot-shiv.

**Let's go get a little sleep while we can.** Alanna signed to Silent, who nodded vigorously.

Luck was not on their side, Alanna saw as soon as they got within sight of their tent, because Corporal Jones was waiting for them with an irritated expression on his face.

"Where the fuck have you two been?! Chow's was served like an hour ago!"

_Less than ten minutes, you asshole,_ Alanna thought but tried to mask her face into one that exuded helpless fear.

"We didn't get any, sir," she practically whimpered, while internally congratulating herself on her performance.

"Really?" Jones put on a thin veneer of concern, "Well, that's a shame. Say! I can get you some grub, better shit than they serve, if you want."

Alanna smiled wide in what she hoped was a graceful manner and not the smile everyone said she wore just before and after a fight, "Really?"

"Yeah, but you'll have to trade. That's the way things work around here."

"Trade?" Alanna shook her head and made a show of looking through her pockets, "We don't have anything to trade."

Jones looked them both up and down, "Oh, I think you do."

_Damn. He's not even being subtle._

Then Jones reached out and wrapped one arm around Alanna, "Just come into the tent and we can talk about it in private."

"What about my friend?"

Jones leaned so close that she could see the food bits stuck in his beard, "She'll have to earn her own food, just like you'll earn yours."

"Okay, but we work better together than by ourselves," Alanna ducked her head as if to hide a blush.

_You have no idea how well we work together, but you're about to find out._

Jones chuckled and stroked his beard, "I was hoping you'd say that. We'll need more room than this tent though. You two ever been fucked in public?" Silent shook her head and Alanna did the same. "Follow me."

Jones led them back to the main road and he hopped into the bed of one of the abandoned trucks. There was a convenient mattress resting in the truck bed and Jones flopped into it with a creak of the axles. He placed his assault rifle beside him and his utility belt on top of that. Alanna immediately settled her ass onto his crotch and started grinding away.

"Damn, you must be really fuckin' hungry!" Jones exclaimed with a grin and reached up to grasp Alanna's breasts.

Cold sweat broke out all over the Myrmidon's body but she did not stop. The horrors, the very memory of pain, were all pushed to the back of her mind as Alanna did her duty. Silent sat with Jones head between her legs and the man looked up in time to see the loop of the garrote hook his chin. They had both practiced with the garrote all day and they had the basic motion down. Jones' hands reached up in blind instinct as his air flow was suddenly blocked. That left his wrists as a very enticing target for Alanna. She quickly wrapped her garrote around his wrists, he was so panicked she didn't even think he had noticed, and pulled back sharply. Jones raised his hips to try to buck her off but Alanna dug her heels into the backs of his knees as she tried to hold his pelvis down with her own.

Force and mass were against her as Jones slammed his hips back down and made the truck nearly jump. Alanna started to panic as Jones did it again and again as he made soft choking noises. She looked at Silent and the girl was nodding at Alanna. Alanna had no idea what Silent wanted and the girl made a face as though she were having an orgasm. A lightbulb went off in Alanna's head and she grinned at her younger comrade.

"Oh fuck!" Alanna groaned, "Fuck me! Yeah! Oh, your cock is so big!"

Alanna kept up her spew of profanity and was rewarded by faint whoops from the barricade up the road. When Jones' struggling weakened, Alanna provided the thrusts that made the truck bounce, until more than five minutes later by her count the soldier finally stilled.

**Take the rifle.** Alanna told Silent since the younger Myrmidon was the better shot.

Alanna took Jones sidearm, of course it was the exact sidearm Achilles had trained them on, and all the clips he had for it. After they relieved the body of anything useful, they pushed it to the side of the truck bed, and propped the mattress over it. Once all of their weapons were secure, the Warrior-Hunters hopped out of the truck and headed towards the perimeter wall.

There were, essentially, only two ways into town and that was via the ends of the road running through it. For a mile or so in either direction the road was confined to a narrow space between almost sheer cliffs that towered sixty feet about it. After that mile, local roads led up to the tiered valley wall. That fact, as well as their small numbers, meant a direct assault was absolutely hopeless. Alanna and Silent had been selected for infiltration to take care of that problem.

Alanna took a deep breath, then another, as they approached the barricade. Achilles had scouted the barricade from above last night and had told them the night-watch was only four men. She was immensely relieved to see that he had been right. Huge spotlights, five of them, illuminated the road and the small fields to either side. The four soldiers lounged around a long machinegun they had set up in its own little hole slightly off-center of the barricade. Their noisy, foul-mouthed conversation carried for a fair distance in the still air. Alanna and Silent were only a few feet from the nearest soldier when someone noticed them.

"What the fuck?!" the soldier yelled just before Silent started firing.

The assault rifle didn't have a fully automatic setting but Silent had taken to firing an M16 even better than Alanna. Alanna was a quicker draw than Silent though and had fired before the first three-round burst left Silent's weapon. She fired three times into the lower abdomen of the one farthest away. Silent moved from one target to the next and let off at least twelve rounds. The last man turned to run and Alanna fired several rounds right into his back.

An alarm went off somewhere in the town behind them, thunderously loud, and Achilles came vaulting over the barricade as though he had springs in his boots.

"Firing positions!" he barked, manhandling the machinegun around so that its barrel was pointing back towards the town.

Alanna thumbed the safety on her sidearm and snatched one of the assault rifles off the ground. Tempest pulled herself up and tossed Silent a scoped hunting rifle.

"No one fire until I give the command!" Achilles said calmly as disembodied lights began scrambling toward them.

It was hard to discern distances in the darkness but they were far too close when Achilles spoke.

"Kill."

It was a simple, straightforward command that was typical Achilles.

Alanna fired her first burst, was surprised at the kick it had, and nearly shit herself when Achilles opened up with the big gun. They were all wearing discrete earplugs but they only helped so much. She was so close that she could "feel" the sound of the machinegun in her jaw. There was instant pandemonium among the approaching soldiers. Bright orange flares occasionally came from Achilles weapon, tracer rounds if she remembered correctly, lending an even more surreal tone to the firefight.

"Here comes the hummer," Tempest said, ducking as a few of the braver soldiers returned fire.

"Alanna, Tempest, you've got until dawn to be out of the town! Go!" Achilles roared as he abandoned the stationary gun.

Alanna and Tempest scurried into the series of undulating tracts of land that had been cleared on either side of the road. There was little real cover but it was dark and the soldiers were panicked. The hummer's gunner began firing at the machinegun but Achilles was no longer there. Alanna turned away and let Tempest lead the way as the military vehicle hit the brakes hard before colliding with the barricade.

"Where the fuck did they go?!" she heard someone shout just before the hollow thump of the grenade launcher preceded a thunderous explosion from the hummer.

Achilles and Silent lay down suppressive fire with assault weapons while Tempest and Alanna snuck around the soldiers crawling their way back to the town in the fields. As soon as the Myrmidons stopped shooting though, the town boiled over with angry soldiers, and two other Myrmidons were right in the center of it.

"What the fuck is going on?!" a soldier shouted as he struggled to get into his pants.

There were people running around everywhere, most of them streaming towards the supermarket, and someone knocked the man onto his ass. There were three soldiers in front of the supermarket entrance barring people from going in. The crowd was quickly growing and Alanna nodded in its direction. Both of them had abandoned their assault rifles but each had a pair of handguns in their pants. It was as though Tempest could sniff her sister and Tsu's family out. Tempest was leading a girl that looked disturbingly similar, despite being nearly half a foot taller, with them in the space of a few minutes. Not long after that, they were practically surrounded by several people, and Tempest nodded for Alanna to lead them way.

The group, she really didn't even know how many of them there were, were nearly behind the Pizza Hut when all their good luck evaporated instantly.

"Hey! Leann! What the fuck are you doing back here?!" the Other named Clem's voice sent a chill up Alanna's spine.

"Get behind us," Tempest said quietly, her voice far too still, and Alanna knew that was a bad sign.

The Warrior-Hunter turned and stepped close to Alanna before pressing something to her stomach. It was a spear-club and Alanna took it as well as a bracing breath. Clem's normal flunkies, who's names she couldn't recall, appeared behind him.

"Let go of me!" someone shouted and Alanna turned to see that it was a young black girl being manhandled by a dirt-encrusted man.

There were several more men behind that one and they all had shit-eating grins on their faces.

"I bet this's your doin', bitch. Don't worry. The General'll have sum fun gettin' you to spill your guts." the "mayor" said from his place beside Clem.

"I am yours," Tempest said, her voice without inflection.

"I am yours," Alanna returned, the battle-mind settling into place with a breath.

Alanna crouched, picked up a rock, sprang to the left, and then launched herself straight at Clem. The 'mayor' let out a wordless shriek and shrank away as Alanna stabbed Clem straight through the neck. Her momentum carried her with him and she let his own falling weight help her to remove the spear-club. Blood, red and very human, splashed into the air and coated her hand. Alanna whipped her hand to shake off some of the blood and made sure her grip was solid. She settled into a ready stance, knees bent and her stance low, as she backed up. Her back met Tempest's and she gave it a reassuring bump. The "mayor" looked at Clem's thrashing body as his subordinates stepped forward to grapple with Alanna. He turned to run and Alanna's rock found the back of his skull. Both flunkies had stopped as the rock whistled between them and hesitated as Alanna gave them a wide grin.

"Come to me, Others! Only death awaits you here!"

Tempest stepped away from Alanna and the Warrior-Hunter twisted to follow behind her. Tempest had darted forward to sink her spear-club into the sternum of the largest of the men. He gripped her shoulders and stumbled forward. Tempest, her weight probably less than half of his, stumbled backwards with him. Alanna came between them and shoulder-blocked the bleeding man back. She turned in time to dodge a combination of wild haymakers that had power but little precision. Alanna timed it, just as Achilles has showed her, and redirected a swing with her forearm to spin the man around. She reached up, grabbed his hair, and stabbed upward through his skull just as though he were a Risen.

A boot step, almost inaudible over the sounds of battle elsewhere, made Alanna turn her head just in time to see a rifle-butt heading for it before a flash of light was followed by darkness.


	11. Chapter 11

Alanna had been knocked out before and she had long ago discovered something that movies could never really convey. There were no voices, no blurry vision in the beginning, there was only pain. So, for a moment, or an eternity, Alanna lay in blackness with only a throbbing sensation for company. Sight came back to her in a flash, as well as her hearing, but the pain only seemed to increase the more alert she became. The source of the pain quickly became apparent when she tried to open her mouth to take a deep breath.

_Goddamn that hurts! I hope it's not broken._

Alanna blinked her eye slowly into focus and found herself in an earthen cell. She looked up to see early morning light streaming through the wooden trapdoor of her cage. The Myrmidon stood, her naked ness no longer a source of embarrassment as it had once been, and immediately began to feel the walls. They were all at least ten feet high and smooth except for what Alanna suspected were where people had frantically tried to climb the walls. The place also stank of urine and feces.

_It seems I am not the first tenant._

A sleep-fogged face peered over the edge of her cage, seemed entranced by Alanna's stare, and finally the man jerked back.

"Sarge! She's up!" the man's voice was a mixture of nervous excitement and anger.

Another voice, the quartermaster whose name she could not recall, bellowed, "Good, now go get the General!"

The silhouette of a head appeared where the grunt's had once been. The quartermaster, she assumed, was wearing some sort of wide-brimmed hat that shaded his face.

"You fuckin' bitch," the Other's voice was slow and slurred, "Medic says I might lose my arm 'cause of you and ya fuckin' friends. I hope the General burns you alive. Just like those fuckers in there go'."

Alanna looked down and the dull-white color of aging bone seemed to leap out at her. Maggots' and whatever flesh-eaters had managed to get in, had long since picked the bone clean. The Warrior-Hunter turned her attention back to the drugged soldier, "I promise you," the man perked up as though she was going to offer something to him.

_Maybe women do offer themselves to get out._

"I promise you that, before this day is over, losing an arm will be the least of your worries."

The Other spit a thick gob into the cage and Alanna let it hit her abdomen without taking her eyes from his.

"When the time comes, you should run."

"Burton! Get back, damnit!" the voice of Hoag seemed full of pure malice. A shadow leaned over the suddenly bright opening. "Well, hopefully you'll be more helpful than that unconscious bitch. You two couldn't have done all this yourselves. I want to know how many of you there are, where your base is, and what kinds of weapons you have."

"If I don't help you?" Alanna asked, icy dread smothered beneath the battle-mind.

"Well, it's a waste of gas but," Hoag held what she assumed was a can of gasoline over the trapdoor. "I'll pour this entire can on you and light your fuckin' ass on fire. Don't think I don't have the balls to do it."

"You are a sadist, rapist, and an all-around lunatic. I know you have the balls." Alanna took a deep breath and fixed a calm gaze on the General. "I am ready, Other. Will you be when you die?"

There was no hesitation from Hoag, "Private, light this piece of shit up. Maybe the other one'll talk after we show her this one."

_I think this is it. Funny how I've been afraid for so long and at the end I feel nothing._

A third shadowy figure appeared and began to unscrew the cap of the gas can.

"Myrmidon!" Tempest's shout, nearly a wail, made the figure turn.

"What the fuck?"

Alanna grinned, drew a deep breath, and screamed, "Myrmidon!"

The man above turned just as the side of his head exploded into bloody mush.

"Sniper! Burton, watch the prisoners!" Houg shouted just before automatic fire, a machinegun Alanna thought, drowned everything else out.

Alanna counted to sixty, no one peeked inside, so she bolted into action. The Myrmidon, her pain pushed into a corner of her mind, wedged herself into a corner, and pushed her body up to the top of the pit. She grabbed the rough-hewn wood bars and pressed her face against them. There was no sign of her guard but she couldn't afford to take chances. Alanna slid down and began a quick search for a suitable fragment of bone. It did not take her long to find an intact elbow joint and forearm. Using a fairly large rock, she managed to snap off the bone to make a crude shiv.

The now-armed Myrmidon, something these Others were learning to fear even more than zombies, quickly ascended the corner again.

_Please be simple,_ Alanna thought as she twisted in the corner and pushed against the trapdoor with her head and shoulders.

At first, her muscles bulging painfully with her efforts, Alanna thought the Others had rigged a more complex cage. Then she felt it give slightly and carefully eased it up. She wished she could hurry, doing something like this quickly was less exhausting than doing it carefully, but the Myrmidon had no idea how close Burton was. Finally there was enough room to slide her arms underneath the trapdoor. Alanna dug her hands into the dirt, cursing a lack of nails, as she pushed herself upwards with her legs. The trapdoor was only a few inches longer than the hole and soon Alanna's head was free.

The escaping prisoner took a quick moment to scan the area. Luck was with her because Burton was laying prone behind a small mound of dirt he had probably dug for cover and she was squirming her way out directly behind him. Alanna stifled a yelp as she wormed her way from beneath the trapdoor. The rough wood was opening her recently received lashes but the Warrior-Hunter endured the pain as she had been taught to. Once her hips had cleared the trapdoor, Alanna twisted and sat up. The sounds of automatic weapons, punctuated by the crack of Silent's high-powered rifle, was getting closer. Three explosions, familiar to Alanna's ears now, were the perfect cover for her to scramble the rest of the way from beneath the trapdoor.

"Fuck!" Burton growled, cradling his assault rifle behind his little slip of dirt.

Alanna glared at the welling scrapes on her legs and she could only imagine what her back looked like. The Myrmidon turned baleful eyes on her enemy, her prey, as she released the bone shiv from her mouth. Two steps and she was airborne.

"What the fuck!?" Burton had time to shout as Alanna landed on his back.

The Warrior-Hunter stabbed downward through Burton's neck where it met his shoulder. A thick mass of blood leaked from his mouth as he tried to shout. Burton rolled, his feet kicking wildly, and slammed Alanna into the ground. She allowed herself an explosive exhalation but gave no other indication of the pain spreading through her. She pulled Burton's head back by pressing one hand against his forehead.

"I told you to run," Alanna whispered into his ear before twisting and withdrawing her shiv.

Burton tried to stop the flow of blood, despite the spurt that had liberally coated Alanna's arm, with both hands. With a weary sigh, Alanna pushed the dying Other off and managed to get blood all over her torso. Alanna quickly sat up to determine if anyone had seen her kill the foul Other. Burton's assault rifle was in her hands quickly but a hand clamped onto her ankle before she could stand. Alanna turned pitiless eyes towards Burton as his mouth worked soundlessly. There was no hesitation as the Myrmidon broke his wrist with the butt of her newly acquired rifle. Several more hits to Burton's head ensured there wouldn't be any trouble as he bled out.

Another trapdoor pit, barely ten feet away from her's, drew Alanna's attention. She raced to it, dropped to her belly, and peered over the edge.

"What took so long?" Tempest asked in a hoarse voice, her grin cracking the dried blood on her chin.

Alanna frowned as she took in Tempest's condition. There was an ugly bruise under her right eye and her bottom lip was swollen. What really troubled Alanna was the way her sister Myrmidon held her arm to her side.

"Are your ribs broken?" Alanna asked quickly.

"No... maybe, I've never had them before. One of them must have kicked me while I was down."

"You can breathe well enough, and there is no blood coming from your mouth, so the odds are good they aren't broken. Watch out, I'm going to kick the trapdoor down."

It took several kicks, during which the firefight died down to quick exchanges of fire, before the corner slowly tilted just enough to slide beneath. Alanna dropped to her belly, left the assault rifle within arms length, and crawled to the edge.

"Grab my hands and I'll help you."

Tempest nodded and quickly grabbed Alanna's hands. The moment Tempest's weight was supported by Alanna's arms a grimace passed the more seriously wounded woman's face. Tempest endured it with indifference befitting a Warrior-Hunter in the middle of a battlefield and pushed herself up the wall as Alanna held her hands. Soon they were both prone, naked, and sweeping the immediate perimeter.

The Others had imprisoned them in a cleared field across the ditch. They had an almost unobstructed view of the entire town. Once again there was a crowd attempting to enter the supermarket. The crowd was too thick, as well as too distant, to ascertain if there were soldiers blocking their way again. A burst of gunfire erupted from the Pizza Hut and was answered by a short burst from a machinegun.

**Achilles came from the other direction!** Alanna Signed to Tempest. **Silent must be on the valley wall somewhere. We need to bust up that hardpoint. You able?**

**Always**, Tempest Signed back.

The two Myrmidons took a moment to loot Burton's still warm body. Tempest kept the handgun and a serrated knife Burton had kept sheathed on his lower back.

**We are going to have to hump it,** Alanna Signed and immediately began doing so despite her nudity.

Tempest was not long in following her example. By the time they made it to the ditch, Alanna's entire torso was covered in fine scratches that oozed blood. They squirmed into the ditch, mostly dry thanks to the hot sun, and scurried in a half-crouch towards the Pizza Hut. Alanna peeked above the edge of the ditch and surveyed the area. There were no guards at the back wall and the door was closed.

**Double-time to the door. I got left. On my hit.**

Alanna waited for the first shots of a flash firefight before she slapped Tempest on the back. They shot to their feet and dashed to the door. Alanna slid to a painful halt against the wall to the left of the door.

**Knock on three.**

Before Alanna could even raise her hand, there was a hard metal-on-metal sound. Alanna flattened herself against the wall as the door opened. She grabbed the edge of it and swivelled into the doorframe with her assault rifle ready. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Tempest messily extracting her knife from the throat of a short, stocky Other. The soldier in front of Alanna had just enough time for his eyes to widen in fear before the Myrmidon fired a single burst into his torso. The Other stumbled back into two others in the long kitchen area. Alanna followed them in and fired two more bursts while the Others were down.

"Fire behind!" someone shouted.

Alanna hit the wall behind a large oven and squeezed herself in the corner. Several short bursts were followed by angry and confused shouting.

"How'd they get behind us!?"

"Don't they fucking _die_!?"

"That bitch was fucking _naked_!"

"Secure that door, goddamnit!" the voice belonged to the General.

Alanna held her assault rifle with its barrel pointing straight up to minimize her profile.

"Step it up, baby," a soldier whispered and sounded like they were right on top of her.

The edge of a boot came down next to Alanna's hip a second before Tempest leaned into the doorway with a pilfered assault rifle. Tempest fired so quickly that it almost sounded fully automatic.

"Fuck!" the man beside her shouted before dropping backwards.

"It hurts!" someone was actually sobbing.

Tempest spun to the side of the doorway seconds before several assault rifles returned fire. Bullets dug into the upper doorframe and, when they stopped coming Alanna stuck her rifle out at a ninety-degree angle and emptied the entire magazine. As soon as her mag was spent Alanna dropped it to scoop up a fallen soldier's as she dashed into the side corridor.

The corridor was more like a large entryway but it gave her cover and that was all she cared about. She quickly slid to the other side and twisted so only half of her body was exposed. Both soldiers crouching low as they tried to flank Alanna hesitated at the sight of her. The Warrior-Hunter suffered no such dilemma as she fired several quick bursts. She stepped back into cover as their bodies hit the floor.

"Incoming-!" someone's scream was cut off by multiple grenade detonations in the dining area.

Smoke rolled into the narrow cooking area and a shadowy figure suddenly appeared out of it. A punch, solid and swift, caught Alanna in the left cheek before she could bring her assault rifle up. The world spun wildly for a moment and then she was being pressed against the wall.

Instinct made her kick off the wall with one leg. Her enemy grunted as his back hit the opposite wall with bruising force. Alanna stabbed her elbow backwards but she was weak from her exertions and he was wearing body armor. The Myrmidon froze at the feel of cold metal pressing in her cheek.

"Settle down, bitch!" Hoag's voice, of course, was partially drowned out by automatic weapon fire. Once it tapered off Hoag shouted, "I'm coming out and I've got one of your bitches!"

Tempest spun into the hallway, weapon at the ready, and grinned through a mask of blood.

"If you kill her, General, your end will be long and unbearable," Achilles voice seemed to fill the enclosed space.

Hoag spun them around and chuckled, "Let's take a walk outside and see, motherfucker."

"As you wish, General," Achilles raised his sidearm and aimed it at Hoag's head.

Hoag took small sidesteps, Alanna could feel his head darting to either side as he made his escape, and slid out of the door. Tempest preceded him and Achilles followed. The Myrmidon Lord was covered in blood and walked with a slight limp. There was no sign of the machinegun he had been using before but his grenade launcher was firmly strapped to his chest. Alanna could see the faintest hint of the pain and fatigue Achilles was feeling in his expression. She doubted any of the other Myrmidons, definitely none of the Others would have seen it, would be able to tell just how tired Achilles was. He gave a quick nod of encourage without taking his eyes off of the General.

Something made Hoag look up and growl, "How many are you fuckers _are_ there?"

Alanna tilted her head enough to see Tzu's outline against the sky as he stood on the roof with a rifle trained on Hoag. Hoag, his grip on Alanna tightening with each tension-filled step, started to make his way around the Pizza Hut. His silent shadows flanked him the entire way. Hoag's breathing was fast but steady. Alanna was impressed with his composure since his numbers were most likely down to the last man.

When they rounded the corner of the Pizza Hut, Hoag's breathing came to an abrupt halt. At least seven soldiers were hogtied, bloody and beaten, less than twenty feet away. Behind them were maybe forty people and several of the ones up front were armed. Hoag's hesitation did not last long.

"Where's the Mayor!?" the wounded, desperate man shouted.

"Right here!" a woman's voice shouted and the crowd parted.

Leann's sister led a small procession of beaten and bloody men. One of the men was the "Mayor" himself.

"This doesn't change a goddamn thing. I represent the goddamn federal government. You think you'll get away with killing National Guardsmen!? You'll all get the fucking chair if I don't shoot you first! That's right! Get back! I'm taking this little bitch and gettin' the fuck outta here!"

Hoag tightened his hold on Alanna's neck, nearly cutting off her airflow, and pointed his gun at the crowd.

"Stay where you are, you crazy fuck!" Hoag pointed his sidearm at Achilles, despite the Myrmidon in question's lack of movement.

Alanna was moving even before a course of action had solidified. The Warrior-Hunter twisted, her throat compressing painfully with the tightness of Hoag's hold, until she was face-to-chest with her captor. Her left hand clenched his arm and Alanna's fingers squeezed on a nerve cluster that caused his arm to spasm outwards. She jumped, caught Hoag's gun arm at the elbow beneath her armpit and side, and wrapped her legs around his waist. The entire process took less than fifteen seconds by her count.

"Hello," Alanna said with a feral grin.

"Wha-!?" Hoag started to curse but Alanna did not grant him last words.

Hoag began to scream even before Alanna's teeth sank into his throat. Those screams turned liquid seconds before Alanna felt something crunch and blood gushed into her mouth.

"She's one of them!" a woman screamed frantically.

"Kill her!" a man shouted.

"Hurry up an' shoot 'er!" another woman screeched.

"The first person to take two steps near Alanna dies," Alanna heard Achilles voice clearly over Hoag's gurgling. "Silent."

The harsh crack of a rifle shook the bravado of the crowd to pieces. Alanna squeezed her jaws shut for all she was worth, something even popped in her head, until her teeth touched. The Myrmidon twisted her head twice and violently pulled her head back. Even more blood splashed her naked breasts and stomach. Hoag tried to clutch his throat with his free hand but Alanna trapped that beneath her opposite arm. Alanna rose slowly, using his hips as anchors, until she was looking him in the eye.

"It seems I right about you, Other, for you were not ready. Now _die!_"

Alanna delivered a precise headbutt to the bridge of Hoag's nose. The crunch of broken cartilage was excruciatingly loud and extremely satisfying. Alanna felt Hoag tilting backwards and automatically extended her feet to break the fall. She bent her knees as they fell and slowly lowered the dying man to the ground. She was careful to snatch his sidearm out of his slack fingers before rising to her full height. Alanna spit the wad of flesh in her mouth directly onto Hoag's face. The victorious Warrior-Hunter raised her head and took a deep, cleansing breath.

"Alanna," Achilles' voice called from her left.

Alanna turned to find all of the Others staring at her.

"Yes, Lord Achilles?"

"Well done."

Tempest grinned, raised a bloody fist, and roared, "Myrmidon!"


	12. Chapter 12

"You got _shot!?_" Alanna exclaimed while the doctor probed at the mess of bruises and welts on her back.

Achilles shrugged while an Other nurse, one of the few in the region that Hoag had forcibly recruited, scrubbed the shoulder wound in question before she stitched it up.

"It is barely a scratch," Achilles answered quietly.

"A little more to the left and it would have cracked the joint," the nurse hissed as Achilles shrugged again, "Stop shrugging!"

Achilles lifted his opposite arm to Sign, **Nervous, are they not?**

Alanna smiled, **A little bit.**

Achilles returned her smile and went back to dispassionately watching the nurse prepare his injury while his hand stayed close to the gun in his lap. The two Myrmidons were in one of the intact rooms in the motel. Alanna had not been surprised to discover that Hoag had hidden the weapons cache here. Achilles had agreed that the Others should have it and only asked for the doctor to treat their injuries. Alanna had seen the looks many of the others were giving Achilles and, for the first time, considered just what area of the country they were in.

Alanna had thought these Others would be grateful for being rescued and greet the Myrmidon as heroes. But, during the small gathering of the town, their greeting had been lukewarm at best. The faces of the men had screamed resentment, tinged with more than a little fear, while the women wouldn't meet any of the Myrmidons eyes. The Mayor and his men, tied to a long bench, had not let their feelings fester. Their little tirade of racist, sexist, downright vicious remarks had gone on for a few minutes before several men had gagged the small group. There had been armed men encircling the speaking platform someone had converted from an old pickup truck.

Once Tempest, Tzu, Silent, and the newest additions to their group were settled in the motel, Achilles and Alanna had gone to barter with the Others. They had found the large group of people, over fifty adults and possibly thirty children was Alanna's best estimate, arguing fiercely. It seemed as though they were people from several different towns and the locals seemed to think they should be in charge. Achilles had bellowed for silence and had gotten it immediately. He had politely asked the man currently standing in the pickup for the floor. The haggard man had simply nodded and climbed down.

Alanna had stood watching the Other guards, her M16 ready for instant action, and listened as Achilles let everyone know the situation. Their only chance for survival was to stick together. They could either try to make it out of the valley, something Alanna knew her leader doubted they could accomplish with so many children, or try to kill all of the Risen that were slowly making their way there. Some of the women, Alanna suspected a few men as well, had openly started crying as the Myrmidon Lord spoke. Someone had called Achilles a stupid nigger and told him to get out of town. Alanna had screamed for the man to show himself so he could die for his impudence and the Other guards had raised their weapons at her. Her own M16 was up in a moment and she stared all four of the Others in the eye one by one.

Achilles, as always, remained calm and told Alanna to lower her weapon. The Leader of the Myrmidon had ignored the interruption and continued speaking. They wanted Hoag's weapons cache and Achilles had agreed if the doctor would see to their injuries. That decision was quickly reached and Achilles had left them to their arguing.

"You'll be alright. There doesn't seem to be any torn muscles. You're just banged up. A couple weeks and you'll never even know," the doctor said, straightening.

"Thank you, doctor," Alanna stood and began putting her upper armor back on.

"Relieve Silent on guard duty, Alanna. Don't forget a walkie. They're all set to the proper frequency. I'll be up to join you in a moment." Achilles ordered her, though for some reason it never seemed like orders when he spoke to her.

"Yes, Lord Achilles," Alanna bowed her head before clipping a walkie to the harness she had acquired from a dead National Guardsman, snatching her M16 and leaving the room.

Alanna stepped out into the parking lot of the motel and saw that Tzu's family had occupied three rooms on the opposite side of the lot because all of their doors were open. A large-boned woman, who had probably been overweight before The End Time, waved to Alanna as she cooked something over a fire. Alanna waved back and made her way to the tall ladder that gave her access to the roof. The climb made her back scream in protest but she ignored it. Silent was all too eager to be relieved of her post and barely waved in greeting to Alanna before jogging to the ladder.

_I guess Tempest must be well enough to fuck both their brains out,_ Alanna thought with a chuckle.

Alanna settled down on the small pallet and took a moment to adjust the sniper rifle to a comfortable position. Five minutes later she was worming her way across the roof to an identical position at the opposite end. She was crawling back the other way when someone came up the ladder. The Myrmidon turned to greet her lord and was surprised to see Tempest's sister walking towards her.

"Get on your belly so snipers can't shoot you," Alanna told the girl calmly.

Alanna was impressed when the girl did so without hesitation. The Other still winced as the rough surface of the roof poked through her shirt.

"Follow me," Alanna said, and crawled to a position besides the pallet. "Lay there since you have no armor."

The Other did so without a word and Alanna was curious as to why she had come up here.

Before she could ask, the Other did speak, "My name's Jackie, what's yours?"

"Alanna."

"Is that your real name?"

"It is now. My Other name was Claire Marie."

"Oh," Jackie was quiet for a minute, "My sister's not gay."

"No, I think she is just what I would call 'unrestricted' in her nymphomania."

"She's not a whore!" Jamie shouted, "Why is she in there fucking that chink and that mute bitch!?"

Alanna grabbed the Other by the throat and glared at her, "Never use terms like 'chink' in my presence again or I will hurt you, girl, in such a way that you will think what Hoag put you through a pleasant memory. Tzu saved your life. You will show him respect or I will beat it out of you." Alanna released Jamie's throat. "Achilles has freed your sister, Other. She no longer has to be afraid of the things she feels because of a society that tells her she is wrong for feeling them. You will accept it, for you have no choice if you wish to remain with us."

"Well, what if I don't wanna stay with you bunch of crazies?" Jackie asked, rubbing her throat while glaring at Alanna.

"Then you can go, but Tempest will be greatly disappointed. She assured us that you had what it took to become a Myrmidon." Alanna dispassionately studied the features that strongly resembled Tempest's. "I think she was wrong."

"I can do anything she can!"

Alanna smiled slightly, "Becoming a Myrmidon, Warrior-Hunter or Artisan-Laborer, is no easy task. I must check the other side, Jackie. It means crawling on your belly. You can either join me or you can remain here."

Alanna did not give Jackie time to answer and turned to crawl back to the other side. She paused a little more than halfway to her destination and turned to find Jackie crawling after her with a mulish expression. Alanna grinned widely when she turned to continue on her way. The pair had not settled on the opposite side for very long before Jamie started speaking again.

"Is she sleeping with that ni-... that black guy, too?"

Alanna fixed her with a blank stare, "No."

Jackie smirked suddenly, "So I guess _you_ want to fuck him? Don't you think it would be weird? Fucking a black guy?"

"I used to think that way too even though I lived in a place where there were lots of black people not too far away. I never would have imagined myself wanting _anyone_ as badly as I want Achilles, especially someone who wasn't white. But, this new world has taught me many things, chief among them that race has even less meaning. There are only people who try to do the right thing and people that only do the wrong thing. People and Others. Those who will take care of you, regardless of the situation, and those that do everything they can to rule you. So, no, I don't think it would be weird."

That only served to silence the girl for a short time, "Are you fucking Leann?"

Alanna barked laughter, "I really do not like your sister much, Jackie. I think she is loud, crass, and can be very annoying. I would rather fuck a toad than even kiss your sister."

"But... Leann said she'd die for you!"

Alanna fixed the girl with a long look, "How old are you, girl?"

"Seventeen."

_Younger than I thought_, "We are People. Myrmidon. I would die for your sister, as she would die for me, as Lord Achilles would die for any of us. That is one of the many things that separates us from Others. I do not have to like her to be willing to die for her. Your sister has earned my respect more times than I can easily recall over the last couple of months. That counts for far more than my personal dislike of her. Come. We must go to the other side."

As soon as they both had settled into their respective places, Jackie began speaking again. If Alanna were to go by talkativeness alone then Tempest and the girl were definitely sisters.

"Did you really bite Hoag's throat out?" Jackie asked quietly and she gasped at Alanna's nod. "There were stories going around the Fort. About crazy people in the woods. Going around, chopping the zombies up with swords and stuff. I guess that was you guys."

Alanna grinned, "We don't use swords. They only work well against humans and guns are _far_ more effective against humans."

"Where'd you guys learn all that Bruce Lee shit?"

Alanna struggled to contain her laughter, "That is almost exactly what Tempest asked Achilles when they first met." Jackie chuckled quietly but waited for Alanna to answer the question. "Achilles never took a self-defense class in his life, but fighting always came naturally to him. I was never in a serious confrontation until The End Time. There were several among the Leaders who knew of martial arts and taught what they thought would be effective against zombies to the others. Achilles made the techniques even more effective and this is what he has taught us."

"I saw you and Leann fight. It looked like she'd been doin' that stuff for a long time."

_Funny, I like Tempest's sister more than I like her, despite the girl's unthinking racism,_ "When certain skills will mean the difference between life and death, you tend to pick up on them that much quicker. We have been training for less than three months. Possibly four. You should ask Tzu. He keeps track of the days better."

"Why do you guys all have such funny names?"

Alanna had asked this question herself and she never forgot what Achilles had told her, "At first the nicknames were just that. They were designed to inject a little levity into a depressing situation. But the first group of People quickly discovered that names had power. People treated them differently and they found that being called by new names helped them overcome a lifetime of conditioning."

"Conditioning?"

Alanna nodded, "Killing is wrong when in fact it is the most natural thing in the world for a predator. The reason, at least this is what I think, people react strongly to killing another person is the subconscious conditioning of their society that killing another human being is immoral. You take a child and that child is practically a predator as soon as it develops the coordination to effectively kill. How many times did you step on bugs? Exert your authority over household pets? Fight with your brothers and sisters until you were bloody?" Alanna spit and put her eye to the scope for one last check, "Don't dress a certain way or you'll be called queer. You're a criminal, lazy, and downright ignorant if you're not white. If you are gay then you're going to hell. If you're not Christian, Muslim, Jehovah's Witness, you're going to hell. What do those things matter when humanity is nearly extinct and we're thrown back to a time when it's kill or be killed." Alanna turned to Jackie, "Are you a vegeterian?"

Jackie shook her head violently, "Fuck no."

"Good. Achilles was once but when the difference between life and death lies in putting an arrow in something and eating it then you quickly learn how deep your instinct to survive goes. Your old life is gone, Jackie."

"No. The government's around somewhere. Hoag said so."

"Hoag also let his soldiers rape, torture, terrorize, and kill civilians. Why would you believe someone like that? It's time to crawl back."

The crawl back this time was faster but Jackie was silent as she chewed on what Alanna had said.

"Because it all just can't be gone. We're the fucking United States Of America!"

"Oh, we're not all gone. I'm sure Hoag was right in that there are pockets of the military protecting remnants of the government somewhere. But do you really think they'll risk bringing the infection inside their bunkers? Achilles thinks that it'll take the better part of a decade for all the Risen to become so broken down that they are no longer any sort of threat. The government will try to reassert itself then but the question then will be: do we really want a system that utterly failed us back in place?" Alanna gestured at the valley, "There are small pockets like this all over the country. If you have a CB radio and lots of time on your hand you can find them. Some of them are large according to what Achilles has told me, numbering in the thousands, but all of them range from idealistic utopias to dictatorships. So when, if, the government crawls out of its hole, the country will be broken up into dozens, maybe hundreds of small territories."

Jackie, as Alanna had once done, lay with her head on one arm listening intently, "What will the... Myrmi-dans... do?"

"Myrmidons," Alanna corrected absently, "We are but a small portion of The People. I don't know the exact details but there is an enclave in Texas that sounds promising. If that does not work out then we will travel to the wilds of Alaska to build our own community. Or maybe Canada if we can find a place. "

"One of those utopia things?"

Alanna grinned, "Utopias are wonderful dreams but hard to maintain in reality. I really have no idea what sort of government The People will decide upon but I suppose it will be something like early Greek democracies were supposed to function. But that is Tzu's area of study and you would best be served by taking your inquiries on that matter to him."

"Why do you all talk so funny?"

Alanna's grin widened, "Something we picked up from Achilles."

"What are you going to do with us if we don't join 'The People'?"

Alanna shrugged, "Give you rudimentary training. Enough so that you do not endanger us on the journey to a safe location. Once we reach that location I assume we will let you go. I do not know for sure. I am not Lord of the Myrmidon."

"No. You are our Lioness and my second. I will make it official tomorrow."

Jackie let out a screech at the sound of Achilles voice behind them while Alanna just laughed, "I am impressed that you can still move so quietly with that shoulder."

"Pain is an illusion..." Achilles started.

"Death an inevitability," Alanna finished, her grin so wide her cheeks hurt.

"Thanks for talking with me, Alanna. I'm going to go get some rest now. G'night, Achilles." Jackie crawled to the ladder and was over the side in a flash.

"Did I say something wrong?"

"She_ is_ Tempest's sister, Achilles," Alanna said with a small laugh.

"True."

* * *

Exhaustion was threatening to pummel Alanna into unconsciousness by the time Tempest and Tzu came to take their turn at sentry duty. Both wore night-vision goggles that had been scavenged from the soldier's equipment stores. Achilles nodded at them before leading the way back to the ladder. Both he and Alanna had their own NVG's, set up next to the observation pads, and found their way to the ladder easily enough.

Warrior-Hunter doctrine said that no one slept alone in contested territory. Tzu, Tempest, and Silent were bunking together so that left Alanna and Achilles as the odd people out the majority of the time. The arrangement of sleeping groups had been this way even before the three Myrmidons had begun their odd relationship. Alanna had never had complaints and Achilles had never voiced any. There was only one intact room unoccupied and they discovered something unexpected when they entered.

There was a single bed.

Achilles sighed, took his NVG's off, and turned up the lantern sitting on the table to give off a very dim light. Alanna quickly removed her NVG's and rubbed her tired eyes. Those same eyes met Achilles as soon as her hand left them. The Myrmidon Lord raised his eyebrows and Alanna nodded in agreement. They quickly, silently, removed their armor and turned out the light. Alanna wanted to flop onto the bed but knew her wounds would let her know their displeasure so she opted for gently settling on her stomach. There was also the irrational fear that Achilles would feel her heart beating at an insane pace through the mattress. It felt like her heart jumped into her throat when Achilles inched closer.

"Claire Marie?" somehow the sound of him saying Alanna's birth-name sent a slow tremor down her spine.

"Yes," she whispered, turning her head to look at him.

Achilles was on his back, eyes on the ceiling, when he slowly turned his head to fix his gaze on her.

"Tomorrow, I-" Achilles swallowed audibly and Alanna came to the startling realization that he was nervous. "Tomorrow, I will announce that you are my second-in-command, but I wish you to be more-"

_Oh god, don't squeal like a teenager, Alanna._

"More?"

"A-... I-" Achilles closed his eyes, Alanna could tell because the subtle glimmer of them had suddenly winked out. "I wish you to be my partner in all things."

"All things."

"Every single one."

Alanna giggled and immediately buried her face into the musty mattress as her faced burned furiously.

"I'm okay," she said, raising her head again, "Wait. Does this mean you want to marry me?"

Achilles laughed, "Well, I don't know what religion you practice, and we would have no legal documentation. I can ask Tzu to come up with some kind of commitment or binding ceremony if you would like?"

"Are you saying you're in love with me?" Alanna's face felt like it was about to melt right off.

"Yes. I think since I first saw you. I can be a little slow sometimes when it comes to feeling my feelings. If that makes sense."

Alanna giggled again, "No, it doesn't. Damnit. I've got the giggles now. Some Warrior-Hunter I am."

Achilles started laughing uproariously then, something Alanna could not recall him ever doing before, and that set her off. Sometime during their laughing fit she found herself with her head nestled into his chest. They spent far too much of the time they should have been unconscious talking about serious matters and just babbling nonsensically.

Alanna wished, more than once, that the night would never end.

* * *

Alanna was jolted from unconsciousness by firm knocking on the door of their room. She turned to Achilles, saw the empty space beside her, and had the horrible thought that last night was only a wonderful dream. The sound of the door opening drew her attention to the other side of the room to reveal Tempest's furious visage.

"Lord," Tempest bowed her head quickly, causing Achilles to shift uncomfortably, before she spoke again, "A bunch of those ungrateful shits want to talk to you!"

"Are they armed?" Achilles asked mildly and it occurred to Alanna that none one of them was the least bit bothered by his nakedness.

Tempest snorted, "Do bears like trash?"

"Yes?"

"Exactly."

"Tell them that I will meet with them shortly, Tempest, and try to remain calm," Achilles instructed the volatile Myrmidon.

"Yes, my Lord," Tempest was jogging into the parking lot before Achilles could protest the title.

Alanna giggled softly as the Lord of the Myrmidons closed the door and turned with a sour expression.

"You should really just give in to us calling you by a title, Achilles."

"Do you not remember what we talked about last night, Claire Marie?"

The memory caused a blush to blossom across her chest, "Yes, Malcolm, I do."

Achilles, after all this time it felt wrong to even _think_ of him as anything else, grinned and winked at her. She giggled like a lunatic and covered her face.

"Stop making me giggle, damnit?"

"Only if you stop being so beautiful... my love."

Time seemed to stop entirely for Alanna.

_His love_, the dazed thought was quickly followed by another. _He called me beautiful._

Thoughts of how exactly Alanna could encourage further terms of endearments, as well as compliments, carried her even further into daydreams. She had no idea had much time had passed before she realized Achilles had said something else.

"Hmm," she managed, twisting to see him sliding on his bodysuit.

"We should hurry."

"Oh, yes, we should," Alanna leapt out of the huge bed and retrieved her bodysuit from the neat pile she had placed her armor in.

It took them less than five minutes to armor up, arm themselves, and give their teeth quick swipes with fluoride sticks. Once they were presentable, Alanna knew they _all_ stank badly, they walked into the courtyard/parking lot.

"Tell that lil' fella' to get his ass out here. We don't have all day!" the leader of the Other group, a tall, semi-muscular man, shouted at Tempest.

Tempest, with uncharacteristic restraint, stood toe-to-toe with the man and calmly bit off each of her words.

"_Lord_ Achilles will be here when _Lord_ Achilles deems fit."

"Listen to you, _Leann_. 'Lord Achilles will be here when Lord Achilles deems fit.'," the only woman among the twelve-Other group mocked. "I remember when you talked like a regular person and didn' go 'round thinkin' you were better 'en everyone else. 'Course, way I heard it, you fuck niggers and chinks now, so it shouldn't surprise me none."

"If you utter those hateful words even once more, Other, I will break you. Which, translated to dumbass, means that I will fuck your bitch-ass up."

The Other laughed, brayed was more like it, and shook her head. She didn't seem at all intimidated by Tempest, the Other was significantly taller and wider than the Myrmidon, despite the fact that the Warrior-Hunter was armed.

"Alanna," Achilles said in the same, almost lazy, fashion that Tempest had used but there was a hint of urgency in the way he said her name.

Alanna nodded and sprinted into action. She was only three meters from Tempest's flank when the infuriated Myrmidon darted between the Other men and straight at the woman. Alanna knew that Tempest would try to deliver a leaping thrust kick to the Other woman's chest, so she was reacting even before Tempest was inside the Other perimeter. Alanna hopped forward and to the right between her own pair of Others. Both Myrmidons feet left the ground at the same time.

Alanna body-checked Tempest only a couple of feet in front of the Other who had just realized the peril she had been in. The impact jarred her tender back but she understood why Achilles had wanted her to do it. Tempest hit the ground with a suppressed grunt of pain and was on her feet almost instantly.

**Compose yourself, Tempest!** Alanna Signed fiercely.

**You heard what that bitch said!?**

Alanna nodded, **Normally, I would not stop you, but this situation calls for discretion. Now, put your helmet on. It always unnerves Others when we are silent.**

Tempest took a deep breath and nodded. Alanna followed her own advice and retrieved her helmet from its latch on her belt. She slipped it on as they backed out of the circle of Others. Alanna felt more at ease in the presence of these Others once her helmet was firmly in place.

"To what do we owe the honor of this visit... sir?"

The apparent leader shook Achilles hand while keeping a close eye on Tempest, "Well, see, it's like this here..." the man trailed off as he got a good look at Achilles eyes.

Alanna could practically hear the man thinking about all the stories that were being passed around the survivors about Achilles and his band of fighters. She could only imagine how their feats and exploits were growing with every telling and how entire stories were being made up in regards to their origins. The Warrior-Hunter knew the man was slowly starting to lose his nerve. The lone woman, recovered from her near-catatonia, broke the spell.

"We need these here rooms for our people, 'specially the children, so you people need to move on," she spoke quickly and vehemently.

Achilles turned to face the woman and she quickly hid behind one of the men.

"Molly's right. This is our town and we need to use this hotel," the man's voice was quickly rising in both volume and hostility.

"First, modulate your tone, Other. I grant you respect and thus I demand it in return. Two, it is fully my intention to be gone from this domicile in no more than two hours, so there is no need for ultimatums or threats."

That seemed to take the wind right out of their sails until the loud-mouthed woman spoke up again, "Modu-what? Don't talk to us like we're a bunch of fuckin' pussies, boy!"

The men were starting to nod when Achilles put a hand on his shoulder and spoke, "Silent, Tzu!"

A red dot appeared in the center of the leaders forehead at the same time as a door was kicked open adjacent to the group. Tzu knelt, partially concealed by the frame, and held a light squad assault weapon in his hands.

"You have ten seconds to leave my sight," Achilles did not even look to see that Alanna and Tempest had raised their weapons at the Other party.

Only two of the Others even raised their weapons in response. Most of them seemed completely shocked at the sudden, unexpected, and violent turn of the meeting.

"One," Achilles reached four before there was a mad scramble to get out of the courtyard/parking lot. Once they were gone, Achilles hit the transceiver, "Myrmidon, I want everyone ready to move out in no less than two hours."

"Yes, Lord."

Achilles growled in response to the nearly simultaneous answer.


	13. Chapter 13

"I'm not gonna be your fucking mule!"

The disturbance, as usual, was being caused by Jackie. Alanna's initial feeling about the girl had quickly turned sour after a second day of her company. She was lazy, spoiled, and vain to an astonishing degree. Tempest had seemed bewildered by her sister's behavior until one of Tzu's sisters, Bethany, had told her that Jackie had been Hoag's favorite. Apparently this had entitled the girl to be treated like a queen. Bethany had also said it was rumored that Jackie had beaten several 'servants' into unconsciousness.

Alanna believed it because she had been suspicious at how eager the girl had been to get out of the town.

The Myrmidons and their charges had rested for three days before Achilles had declared training would begin for the Others. Tzu's family had seemed hesitant but had largely remained silent. Jackie, upon seeing the huge pack she was expected to jog with, threw a fit.

Alanna was perched on the roof as sentry and Silent was on the opposite end. She looked below and shook her head slowly at Jackie's defiant posture.

_God, if she were an Initiate..._

"Go!" the clipped command from Achilles caused Tzu's family to break into a slow trot.

Alanna wished Achilles shouted when he chewed people out, or that she had bionic hearing, because seconds after Achilles put his face right next to Jackie's, the girl burst into tears.

"_Leann!_" the girl screamed and Tempest was running out of the domicile completely naked except for her weapons. "You're not wearin' anythin'!"

"So? What the fuck are ya screamin' for!?" Tempest's face was a mixture of sleepiness and anger.

"They want me to jog around the house with that huge fuckin' pack on! Then _that_ ni-... asshole threatened me! I'm not-!"

Tempest dropped her weapons, grabbed her sister in a choke hold, and dragged Jackie into the house. Jackie was struggling but Tempest's grip was too strong. The day was very quiet without the girl's screaming. Achilles looked up and the two shared a smirk before the Lord of the Myrmidon fell into step with Tzu's family.

Jackie emerged a short time later and picked up her pack without uttering a sound. Achilles stopped and jerked his head for Jackie to take her place at the back of the pack. The girl lurched into a half-hearted jog and Achilles was whispering into her ear almost immediately. Alanna grinned as she could practically hear what he was saying to the recalcitrant trainee.

_Now all we need is enough time to get the hell out of this place._

* * *

Time, Alanna found out a week later, was not on the side of the Myrmidon. The sky had been literally pouring rain for the last forty-eight hours. Several hours earlier, a low rumble that sounded like distant thunder had the locals screaming about rockslides. Achilles had taken Silent to scout for the source and had returned with depressing news.

The trail that Alanna and Achilles had taken over the mountain was buried under tons of muddy debris. Now they were holding a Myrmidon-only emergency meeting in the basement.

"Oh man, this is just fucking _great_!" Tempest was pacing back and forth as she smacked a fist into the opposite palm. "All we needed was a couple more weeks! _Fuck!_"

"Sit down, Tempest," Achilles said, his voice mild.

Tempest continued to pace like a caged animal until Alanna snapped.

"Sit!" she shouted in a short bark that startled Tempest with its volume and depth. Alanna fixed Tempest with a chilly expression as she finally took a chair at the air hockey table."You were saying, Achilles?"

"Thank you, Alanna," Achilles gestured to the map taped to the table.

The map showed the county that comprised the valley as well as several adjacent ones. The Lord of the Myrmidon was pointing towards an unmarked spot.

"That is the approximate location of the pass. Here and here," Achilles placed two more pins. "-are the nearest towns in either direction. This is Hoag's Fort." A black pin went into this one. "Based on what I know of Risen movement, I'd say the leading edge is no more than a week away."

"Shee-it!" Tempest growled softly.

"How many do you estimate?" Alanna asked in a soft voice.

"It is hard to say. Who know's how many the Others gave the Second Death. That town's population was over two thousand and any free-roaming Risen would have joined the siege. Without an accurate account, Hoag's Fort could have been taken by three hundred or three thousand."

"I thought Hoag blew the Fort?" Tzu asked, his brow furrowed with worry.

Achilles shook his head, "Applying the Second Death with explosives is tricky. Any Risen outside the immediate kill radius has a seventy-five percent chance of retaining at least partial functionality. They might be twitchy from the concussion but they are still a threat. Whatever happens to their brains makes them far less susceptible to pressure damage caused by close explosions."

"Seventy-five percent?" Tempest asked suspiciously.

Achilles nodded, "The People have had far too many encounters that prove the percentage."

**Well,** Silent's entry into the conversation immediately switched the mode of communication to Sign. **What are we doing to escape?**

**We have limited options,** Achilles admitted. **None of the Others are capable of long marches. Not to mention running and sprinting. Heaven forbid they meet Risen in battle as they are.**

**Shit**, Leanna Signed wearily before rubbing her head vigorously with both hands.

**Another option is returning to town and begging for a place to stay**, Achilles expression spoke volumes on his feelings for that particular plan.

**I hope you saved the best for last, Lord,** Silent's eyes were wide with contained fear.

**The best plan I can come up with is to try to hold this domicile until the winter and then escape. It would be dangerous but the cold will slow them and make exertions that much more damaging to their tissues.**

**I don't like it,** Tempest Signed as soon as Achilles lowered his hands. **What will we do for food? What if there is a snowstorm?**

**Those are risks, yes, but think about trying to survive a winter here with hundreds of Risen frozen across this stretch of valley. Then, if we managed to survive obtaining food and wood, the thaw would make the Risen more alert and capable. We would be under siege again. Possibly with less supplies."**

The other Myrmidons nodded slowly at the truth of their Lord's words.

**How many for a winter escape? **Alanna asked and promptly raised her hand.

Three other hands went up in quick succession and the decision was made.

**What will we tell my family?** Tzu asked, a frown tugging at his lips.

**The truth**, Achilles answered with his own minuscule frown,** They are free to make their own choices.**

Each of the Myrmidons earpieces came to life in a short burst of static..

"_People are comin' up the driveway!"_ Tzu's sister, the eldest, practically screamed into her walkie.

"_Settle town, Lacy,"_ Achilles spoke calmly as he stood, _"How many? Over."_

"_Oh, uhm, six. Four women, two men. Over."_ now Lacy seemed as though she were trying hard to emulate Achilles tone.

"_What are they armed with? Over?"_

"_Uhm... the women look like they've got pistols, but the men've got those rifles the soldiers had. Over."_

"_Do you know their names? Over,"_ by this time the Myrmidons had scrambled up the stairs with weapons in hand.

Tzu rushed to his mother as she cleaned her father's lash marks in the kitchen, "Into the basement. I'll get Tara."

"_Yeah, I recognize the women. One of 'em used to babysit us."_

"_Okay. Get away from the edge, Lacy, and tell them to stop by name."_

Achilles and Silent raced to the second floor so fast that they seemed to float. Tempest went to secure the back and Alanna darted into the living room. Tzu's youngest sister turned huge blue-green eyes on the Warrior-Hunter and Alanna tried to smile reassuringly. The younger Denton quickly lowered her head and followed her brother to the basement. Alanna shrugged and set her shotgun by the windowsill that looked out onto the porch. She heard Lacy shout at the group cautiously approaching the domicile. They froze as though they were deer in front of approaching headlights. After several seconds, the men dropped to one knee to sweep the perimeter with their assault rifles.

Achilles voice carried clearly throughout the house from his vantage point on the second floor, "State your business!"

"We-" one of the women began to speak but her next words came out a squeak.

"We have come to seek sanctuary, Lord Achilles," one of the younger women stepped forward and spoke with confidence.

"This is not a temple or a Lord's castle. We do not give sanctuary. Now go, Others."

A third woman, her face certainly beautiful beneath the layer of grime, came forward, "Please, we have children. The people that came with Hoag are worse than the Mayor. I don't even know that they'd have let us go if it wasn't for the fact that mostly everyone's got a gun. Please, Achilles, we can't find a way out of this fucking valley. You guys are our best chance at making it through the winter. "

"How many of you are there?"

"Thirteen."

"Stay where you are. You will have your answer shortly." Alanna's headset crackled to life, _"Did you all hear?"_

"_Yes, Lord,"_ the Myrmidons replied.

"_What say you?"_

Tempest was the first to speak, _"Fuck them. How do we know they aren't a bunch of racist, women-hatin' assholes?! If we let them in they could turn on us faster than you could spit."_

"_I agree with Tempest,"_ Tzu chimed in, _"I do not trust them."_

Alanna pursed her lips in thought as she watched the filthy Others shuffle nervously, _"Look at their clothes, the gauntness of their features, I believe they are desperate. In regards to their character, we must remain vigilant, as we always do."_

"_Silent agrees with Alanna."_ There was silent for a moment and then a soft exhalation,_ "They stay."_

"_More mouths to feed. Fucking wonderful,"_ Tempest's comment caused a quiet chuckle amongst her comrades.

* * *

Alanna stood on the edge of the roof, feet spread to either side of the top, and looked down upon yet another group of Others as they dragged their pitiful bodes up the driveway. This latest group numbered five, maybe six if the bundle one carried was an uninfected infant, and were almost as filthy as the two that had wandered in yesterday.

"_How many does this make, Tzu?"_ Alanna clicked on her transceiver.

Tzu, standing in front of the incomplete palisade, thumbed through a notepad, _Twenty-five. Which brings our total population up to thirty-six."_

"_As soon as they're checked out for infection, meet me in the basement."_

"_As you command, Lioness."_

Alanna nodded to Lacy and Bethany, both girls were on their bellies where the slope ended in a flat portion that was two meters wide, before she turned towards the trapdoor in the middle section. She carefully descended the steep stairs that gave access to the roof. Alanna had to duck her head as she soft-stepped her way across the attic to where an extendable ladder led to the second floor.

The domicile was quiet for a change and Alanna took a quick moment to enjoy. A giggle, quickly muffled, came from the master bedroom on Alanna's left. Instinct had the Warrior-Hunter drawing her spear-club and posting to the right of the doorframe.

"I don' know 'bout this, J.C. What if one of 'em finds us?" a girl's voice, soft and tinged with worry, came from the partially open door.

Alanna caught a glimpse of naked buttocks through the gap and her jaw muscles bunched with growing anger.

"We ain't their fuckin' slaves!" the boy, possibly man, snapped irritably, "Sorry, Jessie. I just ain't been getting much sleep lately."

"It's okay. C'mere," the girl said and words were replaced by the sounds of intense kissing.

Alanna licked her lips and frowned at the stirring in her stomach.

_I am virtually Achilles wife and we haven't gotten the chance to fuck yet. I can't let that make me all pissy though. Especially when Achilles has left me in charge._

Alanna eased the door open but a sudden squeak made the slacking couple bolt upright. All of the furniture had been removed and the floor was now virtually covered by sleeping bags. The guilty pair was sitting on a bag to the immediate left of the doorway. It was bright in the room, thanks to three large windows, and Alanna committed their features to memory.

The boy, J.C., ran a hand through his dark brown hair and muttered, "Shit."

The girl, neither could have been older than twenty, looked up at Alanna with wide brown eyes.

"Stand," Alanna watched as they stood and straightened their disheveled appearance. She restrained laughter when the boy couldn't find his pants in the mess that was the floor, "Forget your pants, J.C. You both know the penalty for skipping out on your work detail."

"But-" the boy was silenced by Alanna's raised brows.

"There are no excuses. You will both only receive a single portion of oatmeal for dinner and a single biscuit for lunch. Now go back to your work detail. I am sure the person-in-charge of your group has already marked you down for the punishment. Know this though, Others," Alanna slowly slid her spear-club into its holder. "-I know your faces and even greater punishments will be doled out if I find that you have taken more than your share. Let's go."

"But my pants-" the boy whined, clutching at his stained briefs.

"Your genitals are covered. That is all that should be required to maintain your dignity. Come."

Alanna led them downstairs, her ears constantly alert for sudden movement that might signal an attack, and Tzu was just coming in the door as they made it down the stairs. He looked up, Alanna could not help but to admire the way his muscles strained against the fabric of his bodysuit, and grinned. He wordlessly held the door open for the pair as they dejectedly walked outside. Tzu shut the door behind them and followed Alanna into the basement.

"Others," Tzu said, shaking his head as they stopped in front of the erasable board that Achilles had salvaged from somewhere. The Artisan-Laborer erased the total population number and updated it. "This is not good."

"Do we have enough space for them to sleep?"

Tzu sighed and ran a hand through his greasy hair, "If we put them in the halls, yes. My concern is disease. I can't be sure but I think some of the children might have head lice. Then there's the possibility of fleas and ticks spreading among the Other population. I'm amazed at how filthy people let themselves become. I thought the Risen problem wasn't that bad around here. Everyone seems to think they're some kind of mountain man or survivalist, but they've neglected even the basics in making sure you don't catch something that will kill you faster than starving or being eaten by Risen."

Alanna shrugged, "I am sure that most of these people are used to not having reliable water, electricity, or heat, but not being able to get flu shots or go to the emergency room will be a wake-up call they will not like. Hopefully Achilles and Silent will come back soon with news of a larger domicile we can clear. Or at least a closer grouping of homes."

"I have an even better idea," Achilles voice from the stairs caused a flutter in Alanna's loins that had nothing to do with the situation of the Others.

* * *

The next morning saw the Myrmidons and their growing collection of Others marching their way into town. It was a somber mood as the Others shuffled past the motel where a full dozen men and women had hung themselves from the roof. A large cloth had the words 'No Hope' in red paint across the front of it.

"My theory is that they abandoned the town after most of the Others left but couldn't find a way out of the net," Achilles told Alanna as they watched the bodies swaying in the strong breeze.

Alanna snorted, "There is always hope for The People."

Achilles chuckled, "Says the woman who has been People for less than half a year now?"

Alanna punched her partner, hopefully mate someday _soon_, in the shoulderpad, "Let's go, smartass."


	14. Chapter 14

"We need to go shopping before the Risen have completely choked off the town."

Alanna looked up at Achilles' words and immediately set her tomahawk sharpening tools down. Achilles statement also drew the other Myrmidons attention away from whatever else they were doing in the motel room that doubled as Achilles and Alanna's bedroom as well as their meeting place. This was the extended group's third night in town and an additional dozen or more had joined them. These nightly meetings were a chance for the Myrmidon to plan, share their impression of the Others they were loosely responsible for, and just spend time with fellow People. It was because of the previous meeting that none of the Myrmidon needed to ask what Achilles meant by 'shopping'.

_The only thing we aren't short on is water._

"You have a plan, Lord Achilles?" Tzu asked but they all knew Achilles would..

The Myrmidon Lord nodded slowly, "We need more of everything but especially medical supplies, weapons and ammunition. There is only one place that I know of where all of these things can be found.

"Grant's Bend," Tempest frowned as she named the town where Achilles and Silent had met, "The road between here and there will be covered in Risen. How are we going to sneak out in those loud-ass trucks?"

"_We_ aren't," Achilles grinned his not-quite-sane and Alanna found herself unconsciously imitating it, "Alanna, Tempest, Silent and five of the Others will go out by bike. The town's streets were nearly deserted. Once they enter the town, they can hotwire transportation. There should be moving trucks, preferably the largest you can find, with enough cargo space to scavenge whatever is left."

Silent clapped her hands to get their attention,** There should be plenty. The group I was with before had scavenged from a smaller market in the next town over. I don't think even Hoag and his men went down to the Bend more than the one time. That's how they ended up with all those Risen up their asses.**

Achilles nodded, "Alanna will be in command, Silent will be second-in-command, and you can divide the trucks and Others between you on the way back."

"What Others will we take?" Alanna asked, not liking the idea of being saddled with undisciplined, ignorant, and, worst of all, cowardly Others.

"We will ask for volunteers, but I doubt we will get any," Achilles turned to Tzu, "Go through the lists of Others, find those who have no children or mates, and possess some firearms training. Those will be the ones that _we_ volunteer."

Tzu shifted on the bed, "Is that right, Achilles? Forcing them to risk their lives."

Achilles shrugged, "We could always go back to Silent's domicile and leave them to their own devices. It is not too late to divest ourselves of the responsibility."

Tzu's jaw dropped, "But you wanted us to take them in."

Achilles face became a stone mask, "And is it fair that, just because they are not related to you, we abandon those who need us to the darkness? If things had gone my way we would not be in this situation at all, we would be on our way to rejoin The People, but here we are. Have you forgotten what it means to be People?"

Tzu ducked his head in shame, "No, Lord Achilles, but these Others are not People. We can't expect them to do what is necessary to ensure the survival of the group."

Achilles shrugged, "Oh, but if we have to volunteer people and they refuse, then they _will_ be exiled. This is why I told you to select those without dependents."

Tempest nodded, "It's cold but necessary, Tzu."

Tzu sighed and nodded slowly, "I understand, Lord Achilles. I will do as you command. Is that all?"

"Yes. I want the list in the morning. I'll take it once your watch is over. Thank you, Tzu."

Tzu nodded and rose to leave. Silent and Tempest flanked him immediately. Alanna watched in amazement, even after weeks of observing the behavior, as the two linked fingers behind his back and the trio walked out.

"I am astonished they don't rub each others parts off," Alanna said with a quick chuckle.

"Actually, they do not engage in any kind of sexual activity very often, from what Silent has told me. Most of the time, because their watches are rarely the same, they snatch five minutes of just laying with each other. It is odd how they have all found comfort in one another. I would have pictured Tempest as a jealous girlfriend but they all seemed to have meshed into this odd unit." Achilles shrugged, "Now, it is time to discuss our situation."

Alanna's eyebrows rose, "What about our situation?"

"You might die in the next few days," Alanna nodded, her heart beating just a hair faster at the notion, "We have not yet shared each other in the physical. I would like to do that. Now. Would you?"

Alanna sprang from her chair and into Achilles open arms. She grinned and pressed her lips to his without regard to the fact that they both were probably fairly rank by pre-apocalyptic standards. For a second, Alanna was Claire Marie and she was in the dark with someone's lips crushing hers mercilessly, but she was the Lioness _now_. Alanna mentally chewed on the image, swallowed it, and concentrated on the now.

Achilles pulled back, "I take that as a yes."

"Take your clothes off," Alanna growled, surprised by how brazen she could be without alcohol or drugs in her system.

"Yes, Lioness." Achilles took a second to turn the lamp down to a faint glow before stripping.

Alanna wasted little time in removing her own clothes, almost stopping at the thought of all the scars she had recently acquired, but the way Achilles eyes lingered on her removed the hesitation.

"Just mind the shoulder," Achilles said as he stood before her in all his glory.

The man had only gotten harder and slightly bulkier over the last few months. He had a few more scars on his torso and the serious one on his shoulder but that only added to his allure.

_It must be a warrior thing._

Alanna could not help but to look down at his erection and grin impishly.

"You _are_ a grower."

Achilles laughed, "Yes. Will my Lady be satisfied?"

Alanna nodded, licking her lips at their sudden dryness, "Yes."

_Did my voice really just get _that_ hoarse?_

Achilles picked Alanna up by the waist and she immediately wrapped her legs around his hips. Their lips met again, tongues darting out tentatively, and he carried her over to the bed. To her surprise, and odd relief, Achilles gently sat on the bed. He pried her legs apart and lay back so that she was straddling his waist.

"So you do not feel trapped," he explained and the surge of love-lust that flowed through Alanna at the words caused the feeling that she had always assumed was an orgasm.

_What the fuck have _I_ been missing?_

Alanna leaned over and kissed Achilles deeply. Soon her hips were engaged in a rhythmic, undulating motion on his abdomen. She straightened, looking down at the places where positively delightful sensations were coming from, and was a little shocked that she could feel such pleasure from her nipples. The Lioness also became aware that her rear felt a little wet where it was coming into contact with Achilles lower abdomen. She raised herself up and looked back to discover a thin, glistening film was now coating his lovely brown flesh.

"It looks like someone's a little excited, hmmm?" Achilles teeth shone in the dim light and his eyes crinkled with restrained laughter.

Alanna was careful to slap him on the uninjured shoulder, "Fuck you."

Achilles, always helpful, held up a single condom, "Please and thank you."

Alanna blushed, "I don't know how to put one on."

"It's okay. Get off and watch."

Alanna gave Achilles one last kiss before sliding off of him to watch him slide the bit of latex over his shining erection. His motions, as always, were smooth and economic. He had it on in seconds and Alanna was back on top of him.

"Now, this part, I know how to do." Alanna reached back, grabbed her mate's penis, raised her hips a little, and penetration was accomplished with little external fanfare.

Internally, at least to Alanna, it was as though fireworks were going off. She closed her eyes and swore she could see sparks. Her clitoris was an engine of fiery sensation that she did not want to even think about let alone touch. Tiny squeaks emerged from the Lioness' mouth as her hips started a slow grinding motion that made even Achilles groan.

"Oh," Alanna heard herself moan, over and over again, the frequency of her vocal outbursts increasing with her hips speed.

Sex had never felt like this, ever, and the rare times she had masturbated in her life paled in comparison. It was as though something explosive, dangerous, and marvelous was building within her. All she had to do was keep doing what she was doing, Alanna could feel it, and it would explode. It was a little frightening actually.

_Maybe I'm having a heart att-_

"Oh, god, fuck, _fuck!_" Alanna heard herself grunting in an impossibly hoarse, at least she had always assumed it was impossible for her, voice.

Fireworks went off in her head and light burst before her eyes as pleasure like she had never imagined flooded her. Then Achilles started grunting as his hips rose and fell like a piston. His penis hit something in her that made her _scream_ before the world faded. It came back quickly, she thought, because Achilles was still grunting despite his body being reduced to shivering. Alanna rolled off of him, her face and the back of her neck feeling like they were on fire, and tried to catch her breath. She watched as Achilles removed the condom and went to the sink full of relatively clean water. He returned after quickly scrubbing his lower body and settled in the bed next to her.

"Have I pleased my Lioness?" Achilles teased.

"No," Alanna teased back, "It depends on how many more times you can get it up."

Achilles grinned, "I will, of course, do my best."

* * *

Alanna could not keep a grin off of her face and it had quickly grown annoying. Right now she and Achilles were waiting for Tzu's list. The Artisan-Laborer stood against the wall by the door to the office. Alanna could tell from the set of his features that he was extremely anxious despite how steady his motions were.

"Lord Achilles, I, uhm, modified the list."

Achilles nodded as if he had expected such a thing, "What did you change?"

"Well," Tzu seemed to gain a measure of confidence from Achilles' calm expression, "I thought about what you were saying about the kind of Others we want on the mission. I think it's too dangerous to have these men, who have little reason not to betray us, outnumber the Warrior-Hunters."

"You want to take fewer Others?" Alanna asked curiously.

"No," Tzu took a deep breath, "I think you should take men who have families or unattached women with children."

"Why?" Achilles demanded the answer with quiet authority.

"Because they will have an incentive to return instead of attempting to flee once they believe they are free of the Risen hordes."

"Some of these Others may be the sort to abandon their families without hesitation," Achilles countered.

Tzu nodded, " I believe any that had that particular inclination have already done so. We have several unattached women, all with at least one child, at this time."

Achilles grinned and clapped a hand on Tzu's shoulderpad, "I like it. Is that the list?" Tzu nodded and held the yellow notepad out. "No, keep it. The decision is now yours. You have proven yourself quite capable indeed. How long until the morning gathering?"

Tzu consulted his wristwatch, "About an hour."

"We are going to have a bath. See you then," Achilles walked past Tzu with a bow of the head.

"Good job," Alanna congratulated the flush man with a broad hug before jogging to catch up with Achilles, "You had that planned, didn't you?"

Achilles turned as they passed through the office, "Me?"

Alanna chuckled and slapped him on the back, "Do not be coy."

"Sometimes you have to arrange for people to find their own worth. It is also good to be reminded that just because you come up with a plan does not mean it is the best plan of action."

Alanna nodded as she went through the back door that Achilles was gallantly holding open. They stepped onto a small, dirt parking lot and both growled at the scene before them. Silent and Tempest were in a large tin tub kissing with great fervor. Two of Tzu's sisters, Bethany and Tara, were busy filling up a second, round aluminum tub that was at least as tall as a bathtub. Both teenagers were trying hard to not even glance at the lesbian couple.

"Tempest, Silent, could you please try not to suck each other's face off first thing in the morning?! Some of us haven't eaten yet!"

Tempest turned away from Silent with an angry glare but Silent grabbed her partner's head in both hands. A gentle kiss was followed by a quick message.

**Let's go back. I will do that thing you like.**

Tempest's eyes seemed to turn emerald green as an impish smile blossomed on her face. She started to reach for Silent but stopped to look around as if only now realizing they had an audience. Tzu's sisters were now openly staring with curious astonishment. A blush of startling intensity, considering how tan Tempest had become, spread up the Warrior-Hunter's neck and torso. Silent quickly exited the tub by a small wooden box and Tempest followed. Achilles nodded to them both in passing before turning to the sisters.

"How are you, ladies?" Achilles asked, a small smile gracing his features.

The girls smiled back, Alanna had discovered that Achilles could be very charming when he chose to be, and straightened under his scrutiny. The woman in Alanna experienced a twinge of jealousy as their change in posture only enhanced their ample breasts. She had to admit that Tzu's stepsisters were all disgustingly attractive. The side of Alanna that was a Myrmidon knew that the straightening was something a few of the Others who practically worshiped the ground Achilles walked on just... did.

"We're fine, Lord Achilles," Bethany answered, green eyes wide and shining.

"Were you planning on taking baths?" Alanna asked, instantly ready to kick Tempest's ass if the girls said the woman had made them fill the tubs.

"No, we were filling them for the use of the Warrior-Hunters, Lioness."

_I know how Achilles feels now. _Everyone's_ calling me Lioness for fuck's sake._

Achilles studied the girls for a moment, "Doing these chores for us is not the way to become Intitiates, girls. Hasn't Tzu told you what would be required?"

Both of the girls nodded and ducked their heads.

Lacy looked up, her blue eyes glittering dangerously, "Scott says that he won't let us do it. He's been trying to get Tzu to leave for days now. He says that you're crazy and perverts. That it's the only reason you could want to get have us parade around naked."

Achilles shrugged, "The reasons for the Rite of Entry and the Trials are many. Go now. We can finish up here."

The girls nodded and scampered away. The furtive glances they kept turning to give Achilles did not go unnoticed by Alanna. Achilles immediately went to the water pump without a second glance at the sisters. The two worked in easy silence to get the water to bathing level. Once it was done, they quickly undressed and slipped into the cool water.

"One of the things I miss the most is hot, running water," Achilles voice was wistful as he lathered up one of the washcloths that was hanging on the side of the tub.

"I know what you mean, but at least we have water for bathing. There was none at the hotel."

Achilles nodded, "It was easy to tell."

Alanna splashed water at him with a grin, "Fuck you."

* * *

"We will need supplies," Achilles voice carried well over the quiet crowd of fifty or so people. "A group of people will be required to bring those supplies to us from Grant's Bend. Alanna will lead this supply run with Silent as her second and Tempest to act as a... sergeant. This group will leave tomorrow morning with an estimated mission time of forty-eight hours. Five volunteers will be needed. Those who wish to go please step forward."

The morning meetings were held in front of the motel, only those on active guard duty were allowed to not attend, but this time everyone was here because Achilles had ordered Tempest, Silent, and Tzu's family to guard the perimeter. Achilles stood in the bed of a truck with Alanna and Tzu flanking it.

"There's too many of those fucking things running around! That's why we're all here! It's suicide!"

"Maybe it is, true," Achilles seemed to shock the crowd with his agreement, "But you will risk slow starvation once the proper siege starts. Or freezing to death without proper sleeping gear or clothing. Not to mention running out of ammunition or having people succumb to wounds. You all know how scarce the medical supplies are becoming. We really have no choice."

"Why don't you all go!?" a woman screamed, "Isn't that what you Warrior-things do!"

_Oh, that was the wrong thing to say,_ Alanna tightened the grip on her shotgun in anticipation.

"You are not People. We work beside you. We have decided to help you defend yourselves. Make no mistake, Others, we will leave if our leadership becomes intolerable to you. With that said, as I see there will be no volunteers... Tzu."

"Gary Graham, Larry O'Riley, David Clarke, Brian Foster, Lucas Quinn!. Please come forward!" Tzu projected his voice so that the majority of the crowd heard him. "If you see them next to you, let them know they are wanted up front!"

Alanna watched as the five people warily made their way forward. Each of them came from small clusters of people in the larger group that were probably their families. She studied them as they came up, their faces blended together into a blur, but she came away with the impression that they were some of the more physically fit of the Other population.

"You five have been chosen for the honor of ensuring the survival of your families," Achilles voice was sincere, "You are excused from your work duties for the day so that we may assess how you will be divided into teams. Meet Alanna and me here in ten minutes."

"I ain't goin'!" one of the men shouted, his face red, and his hands curled into fists.

"Remember what I said, Other. Slow starvation, hypothermia, sickness, or being eaten alive. You chose how you want your children to die." Achilles shrugged, "The rest of you have the same duties as yesterday. This meeting is over."

* * *

"We saw Achilles naked," Bethany whispered to her sister and almost dropped her bowl of soup as a fit of the giggles took hold of her.

Sarah turned to Lacy with raised eyebrows and shook her head at her younger sister's nod, "You girls really need to get new crushes."

The four Denton sisters were sitting around their family's firepit in the eating area behind the old supermarket. Other families were around them talking, some arguing loudly, about what Lord Achilles had done earlier. Sarah concentrated on eating her food, Achilles said it was important to eat in order to have the strength to survive whatever life threw your way, and tried to ignore the shouting.

"Don't talk shit, Sarah," Tara said, her little girl voice sounded odd from the most muscular of the sisters. "We've all got crushes on Achilles... or Alanna."

The other three snuck sideways glances at Lacy who suddenly developed an interest in drinking most of her bottle of water slowly.

"Don't tease her, Tara. Watching Tempest and Silent go at it probably can't help." Sarah patted Lacy on the shoulder in sympathy.

"Goddamnit! I want to be an Initiate!" Bethany practically shouted, stomping her foot down in irritation.

"Yeah, join the club," Sarah shrugged, "Dad's scared of losing us all. Him and mom are probably arguing with Tzu, I mean Richie, again."

"I don't understand what his problem is," Tara growled, "The Myrmidon saved all of us. Hoag and those bastards probably would have gotten around to- you know, if they hand't."

Sarah shuddered at the memory of how they had all narrowly avoided being raped by Hoag and his goons so many times.

"Shhh!" Lacy hissed, as their father and mother strode angrily toward the fire.

"Richard still won't leave those degenerates and come back!" their stepfather started his bitching before he even sat down. Their mother handed him a bowl of soup but he didn't even touch it. "I just know that Achilles is making Richie have sex with him, too. That little bastard looks like the type. And did you see how he practically forced those guys to go on that suicide trip? Did anyone notice that he isn't going himself? He's just a coward."

It was like something in Sarah, already stretched thin, snapped.

"No!" she threw her bowl down and stood as her heartrate jumped into fifth gear. "Achilles is _not_ a coward. He is brave and strong. Crazy, maybe, but he's doing what he's got to do to keep us _all_ alive. I just wish he had picked me to go!"

"Sarah," their mother looked shocked, her green eyes wide with shock, "You don't mean that."

"I _fucking_ mean it!" Kate Denton gasped as it was the first time any of her daughters had ever swore at her.

"Apologize to your mother!" Scott shouted, causing glances from a neighboring fire.

"I am sorry, mother," Sarah didn't even notice the formal tone her speech had taken, "I am sorry, father, for doing what I think I have to."

Sarah took off her shirt in one smooth motion to the shocked gasps of her family.

"What are you doing?!" both of her parents shouted nearly simultaneously.

"Preparing myself for the Rite of Entry." Sarah said as she removed her sneakers to slip her pants off.

"I'm coming, too!" Lacy exclaimed, and Sarah had to stifle a laugh as their mother's eyes bulged out at the bold pronouncement from their usually shy daughter.

"Me, too!" both Bethany and Tara chimed in.

Sarah and Scott Denton could only stare in horror as their daughters all stripped down to their underwear. Removing the underwear took a little longer, as each dug deep for courage but that too was eventually discarded. Sarah didn't know why she was doing it here instead of in front of Achilles but she supposed she wanted to make a point.

"We love you, father, mother. We always will, but we have to do this. We'll see you around," Sarah said and extended her hands to the sisters flanking her.

The four of them walked hand-in-hand through the camp and to their destiny.


	15. Chapter 15

"I saw this coming a mile away," Tempest said, barely keeping the laughter from her words.

Alanna, Silent, and Tempest stood in front of the motel and watched the four Initiates complete another lap. The black short-tights and tube-tops they wore were soaked with sweat. Their freshly shaved heads fairly shone from a coating of perspiration. Alanna ran a palm along her own newly shorn scalp and grinned in memory.

_All of them shed tears but none of them wailed._

Tzu had seemed as shocked as Achilles when the Denton sisters had shown up naked and asked if they could take the Trials. The vote had been in favor, with only Tzu dissenting, and now their brother was mercilessly taking them through their laps. One of the girls, Bethany she thought, slowed to a walk that suddenly turned into a collapse.

Tzu was there immediately, "Can you stand, Initiate?"

"No, Tzu, please. I-I'm tired!" Bethany wheezed.

"If you can not complete this Trial then you can not become a Warrior-Hunter Initiate. There is no shame in being an Artisan-Laborer and considerably less danger. Did I say you three could stop!?"

Tzu sudden outburst sent the three remaining sisters scrambling away. Bethany sat in a heap, snot and tears falling from her face, as the girls completed another lap.

"Ten more and this Trial is over!" Tzu called, "Come, Bethany. I thought your asthma might be too severe to allow you to complete this Trial, but my heart knows no joy for being right. Come."

Tzu helped Bethany into the shade provided by a piece of canvas that stretched from the wall to the ground beside the motel. Achilles came up behind Alanna and nodded.

"Tzu needs another Artisan-Laborer to help him, anyway," Achilles gestured for his fellow Myrmidons to follow him as he headed to where they were going to head out with the Others.

"Do you think the other three will pass the remaining Trials?" Tempest asked, cinching the strap of her backpack a little tighter across her breastplate.

"Only half of all Initiates pass the Trials to become Warrior-Hunter Initiates. I think that less than that will pass the Trials I have planned for the Myrmidon Initiates. So, only one of them may actually pass all of the Trials. I would hope the other three do, but I doubt they all will."

"Who do you think it'll be?" Tempest asked, removing the tomahawk from the small of her back and twirling it in her off-hand.

_That settles it. The woman is nervous as hell. I don't think she' s afraid. Just nervous. Am I nervous?_ Alanna took a breath and looked around. She didn't feel sick to her stomach, she didn't have to go to the bathroom, the Warrior-Hunter felt surprisingly fresh._ I guess not._

"It is hard to say. I have seen hard, strong men unable to deal with the reality of this new world and frail-looking women become the most cold-blooded of killers. You never know what the Trials and training will forge a person into."

The Warrior-Hunters came up to where a small group of people were standing. They walked up to a cacophony of sobbing, cursing, and sullen glares directed at The People. Alanna was proud to see that each Myrmidon bore it stoically, as they should. Tempest returned her tomahawk to its loop as they came to where a wooden ramp bridged the seven foot deep dip just in front of the earthen wall. Standing in front of the wooden steps that had been planted into this side of the wall were the men that had been volunteered. Three of them were surrounded by small groups of people while the rest seemed to have only a single woman and child they were saying goodbye to.

Achilles stopped and turned to look over the three Warrior-Hunters as they came to an immediate halt. He looked them each in the eye and nodded at what he saw.

"You will do well."

There was no elegant, rousing speech, just that powerful confidence Achilles had in them to get the job done. A row of mountain bikes were waiting for the scavenging party and Alanna wordlessly went to the first. She kicked up the kickstand and carried it to the top of the wall. Once there she had a clear view of the road, clear for now, but she knew it would be full of Risen soon enough. Alanna set the bike down, swung her leg over it, and was heading down the ramp without a backwards glance. She had already said her private goodbyes to Achilles, there was no need to look back, but she did stop and wait for the others a dozen feet from the bottom of the ramp.

By the time the Others had joined them, the Warrior-Hunters had put their helmets on, and Silent and Tempest were sailing down the road in their role as advance scouts.

"Remember, Others, stay silent and alert. We are the sharp end of the spear out here, despite whatever views you may hold of women, but we will not risk our lives to save you from your own stupidity. Follow me."

Alanna set off at an easy pace she thought the Others would be able to maintain without completely ruining them and prayed to a God she was no longer sure she believed in that she could lead them all home again.

* * *

"Why are we stopping?" Gary, the heaviest one of the bunch, wheezed as he came to a gradual halt on the backcountry road the group was traveling down.

"Shh!" Alanna hissed, holding up a hand for silence. "Follow me."

They had been riding for most of the day and her scouts had reported that they were nearly within the town's limits. There was one small problem though. Apparently there were at least a dozen Risen, badly injured, making their slow way up the road. If the Others saw, they would undoubtedly fire their guns and risk having all the Risen the party bypassed on the way turn back in their direction. Silent and Tempest were going to take them out as quietly as possible but Alanna had to get the Others out of the way.

_Goddamn. They make so much noise. I may not know much woodcraft yet but these bastards sound like a herd of elephants._

Alanna led them to the top of a slight rise in the terrain that afforded them a good view of the curve in the road.

"Lay the bikes flat," she told them in a soft, speaking voice. Risen picked up whispers far faster according to Achilles. "Then get onto your bellies. Keep it quiet."

Thankfully these Others seemed willing to listen to her when it meant the difference between living and being eaten alive. Soon Alanna was flanked by Lucas and David as they waited in the warm, late afternoon air.

"The Devil's surely walking the world now, boys, that's a fact," Lucas whispered, clutching the wooden crucifix he had around his neck.

Lucas was the fiercest-looking man, almost as tall as Ajax, on Alanna's team but he seemed the most fearful.

"Don't whisper," Alanna admonished, turning to look into Lucas' light brown eyes. "Talk softly in normal tones."

"Why'd'ya say that, Luc?" David asked from her other side.

All of the Others were dressed in hunter's garb, most of them woodland patterned, but David's was a sickening shade of 'shit-brown' as Gary had pointed out.

"You ever remember summers up here being so hot or lasting so fucking long?" Lucas' pupils seemed to get smaller as he spoke, "It's the Devil putting his claim on the world, I'm telling ya. First the dead come back to life and then Lucifer's gonna make himself Hell on Earth."

"I don't remember readin' that in the Bible," David replied, his voice actually sounded worried.

"It could be lots of things, David. Sunspots, global warming, freak weather. But even if it is the Devil, we can't just lay down and wait for the bastard. Now, quiet, here they come."

Alanna's words were too late. The group of Risen must have heard them because they came shambling towards the rise with low moans. They wouldn't let loose the high shrieks until they actually had their sights set on fresh meat. Two figures burst out of the cover of thick undergrowth on the side of the road, crossbows in hand, and fired before any of the Risen knew they were there. It was easy to see that both bolts hit their marks because a pair of Risen were suddenly on the ground convulsing. The remaining Risen, six in all, turned in unison and charged at their attackers. Tempest and Silent reloaded their weapons in seconds and had time to fire again before they dropped their crossbows. Tempest, Alanna could tell by the black lightning bolts she had drawn across her breastplate, drew her tomahawk and reached out to grab the outstretched right hand of a smaller Risen girl. The Warrior-Hunter pulled the Risen girl toward her, causing the undead creature to stumble forward, and caved the back of its skull in with a brutal smash. Silent had both tomahawk and spear-club in hand as she easily dealt with the first Risen to enter her field of death. The two Myrmidons were like a tornado sweeping through the group of Risen.

"Holy shit," Lucas whispered and when Alanna glanced at him she saw that he was crossing his chest.

The snap of a branch had Alanna literally leaping up to her feet and spinning around. A single Risen man was coming at them from behind with absolutely no sound.

_It's almost like he was_ trying_ to sneak up on us!_

This Risen was badly chewed up, wearing overalls that had probably been nasty before the End Time, and had been a slender man in life. Alanna darted forward, ducked beneath the predictable lunge attack, grabbed his left arm by the wrist, and rolled him forward onto his back. She wrapped her arm around the elbow joint of the Risen and placed her boot on the back of his neck. A convulsive jerk broke the Risen's neck to ensure that it couldn't surprise her and a quick stab with her spear-club finished it. She scanned the area for other threats that might have escaped her attention, found none, and turned back to discover that she was being stared at as though she had grown another head.

"Is there a problem?" all of the men shook their heads, "Let's move then."

* * *

"You believe that shit back there?" Larry huffed from atop his bike on Lucas' left.

Lucas shook his head, "I wouldna believed it if I hadn't seen it wit' my own eyes. Those itty-bitty girls killing those fuckers quicker 'en you can spit?" Lucas shook his head again as they coasted on a downgrade, "It made my balls shrink, I'll tell you what."

The crew, at least that's what the girl named Alanna called them, was being led by Gary since he knew the town. They were headed towards the high school in order to see if there were any big buses left. Silent and Leann, Lucas refused to call the girl Tempest, were driving the heavyset man at a pace that had them all sweating. Larry whistled as Silent rose up in her seat to gain some air off a small hump.

"How the fuck did that little faggot ever land tail like that?" Larry wondered, though he quickly shut up at a quick backwards glance from Alanna.

A minute after the crazy killer-woman had faced forward, Lucas replied with a soft snort, "Didn' ya hear? He's bangin' her _and_ Leann. At the same time, every fucking night, I hear."

"No shit?!" Larry shut up as the group took a sharp, sudden left that had almost all of the men on their asses.

"No shit."

Lucas squeezed the handbrake to come to a gradual stop behind Alanna. His clothes were soaked with foul-smelling sweat and itchy as fuck but the women weren't complaining so he wouldn't. The crew had stopped in front of a small parking lot that was empty except for three long yellow schoolbuses. He guessed what had caused them to stop was the blood that coated two of the buses and the figures that could be seen slowly shambling from front to back. Silent and Leann looked back to Alanna, the leader of their little crew flashed her hands in lightning-quick motions, and the two women dismounted. Lucas watched as they stretched in sexy-as-fuck ways and then started taking out their million weapons to look over.

"Gary, David, Brian," Alanna turned to them and nodded, "Guard the gate. Only fire if there are Risen approaching our position. No shooting at shadows or because you are bored. Am I understood?"

Lucas could imagine the mulish looks on all their faces but one look into those hard hazel eyes was enough to freeze the words in a man's throat and that was a fact. The three men nodded, got off their bikes, and checked their hunting rifles over. Each of the men, including Lucas, were armed with Remington .270's equipped with scopes and sound suppressors in addition to their nine-millimeter pistols. Fifty rounds for the rifles and four clips for the sidearms was all the ammo they had been allowed to bring.

"Don't worry about cover. The odds are they'll see, or hear, you long before you notice them. Stay calm, aim, and fire. Don't panic. We Myrmidon will protect you if they come too close. Lucas, Larry, with me."

Lucas passed the three men on guard duty with a small smile at the disgruntled looks on their faces. He could only imagine how, probably in equal turns, pissed off and relieved at the fact that the women would be there to save their asses if it came to that. Larry gave him a look, his dark blue eyes twinkling, as they followed Alanna. They headed towards a bus that had Silent and Leann standing in front of its doors. Something they had done had set off the things and now the entire bus was shaking wildly as the monsters banged on the windows in an effort to get at the crew.

"Stay back. Watch the interior perimeter. I don't want any surprises." Alanna ordered them and jogged over to where her fellow psychos waited.

Larry slid his rifle off his hiking pack, slipped the scope on, and made a show of scanning the perimeter. The main building of the school was off to their left and the football field was directly in front of them. A faint breeze blew the tattered flag that rose from the building's roof but other than that there was nothing at all moving. Lucas plopped down onto his butt, made sure his rifle was loaded, but didn't bother to put his scope on. Larry sat down with his back to Lucas and took out a wad of chewing tobacco.

"Want some?" Larry offered the small container but Lucas shook his head.

_Probably why his teeth are all fucked up._

Both of the men turned at a loud thump and they were just in time to see a red-purple zombie stumble out of the bus. It fell directly onto its face and lifted its head up just in time to receive a punt directly into the side of its head. There was a sickening thud and the zombie's body rolled right to one of the girl's feet. Three vicious stomps, accomplished in a blur of motion, reduced the zombie to twitching limbs and snapping jaws. Then the doors seemed to unleash a shitload of the ugly bastards. Lucas and Larry shot to their feet in order to back away from the chaos despite the fact that they were more than fifty feet away. It was like watching a violent, bloody brawl in fast forward. Next thing Lucas knew there were seven bodies on the ground and one of the girls was bashing the head of the first zombie in to still its twitching.

"Aw, man, what the fuck are they doing?" Larry spit and used the back of his sleeve to wipe his mouth.

Two of the girls were stabbing into the open mouths of the zombies and putting whatever they were looking for into the straps for the shields on their backs. The third girl marched up to them and removed her helmet. It was the one called Alanna and she did not look happy.

"I thought I told you to watch the perimeter." her voice was soft and clipped. "Your eyes seem to have wandered from their duty."

"Oh, uhm, you guys started a ruckus. We didn' know if ya need help," Lucas was amazed at how quick the excuse came out.

Alanna's lips pursed for a moment as she looked them up and down, "If we need help, you will not have to watch us to know it. Stay alert. We should have the remaining buses cleared shortly."

Lucas had the _urge_ to flip the woman off and stopped himself as she turned back with the scariest fucking look he'd ever gotten from a woman. Larry immediately turned around and started looking around in what he thought was a professional manner. Lucas turned in the opposite direction and did the same. He had no idea how long he stood there, bored as hell with nothing to do but watch the sun sink lower and lower behind the bulk of a mountain, before there were more low moans signaling the release of more of the things. It must have been at least ten minutes before Alanna's voice carried over to them from the direction of the buses.

"All clear!" the woman's girlish voice sounded utterly ridiculous coming from a figure covered in blood, "Over here."

Larry and Lucas hurried over to where everyone was gathered in front of one of the buses.

"Okay. This bus was empty of Risen. We will use it as a temporary mobile domicile until the morning. We will only turn on the engine if we locate the keys and we desperately need rapid relocation. You five will stay here while we go scout the school and neighboring buildings for supplies or Risen. No lanterns or fires tonight. Use Sterno if you want to heat anything up. We will be back shortly."

The others nodded at her logic and soon all five were aboard the schoolbus. Lucas was last and shut the door behind them. Alanna caught his eye and something about that look made him feel like a weak, helpless, stupid baby. He wrenched his gaze away and moved to the back of the schoolbus where the others were. A couple of the guys had already taken out plastic storage bowls and were shoveling food into their mouths. Larry and David had stretched out on the floor across the aisle. It sounded like they were already asleep. Lucas sat in one of the surprisingly comfortable seats and, after a moment of breathing in the only recently freshened air, slid the window down to at least get some airflow going.

"Hey, guys, I think we should ditch these bitches and get the fuck out of here. You saw what's coming at that dinky ass wall they're building," Gary said, pausing to let out a particularly foul burp that Lucas could practically taste.

Lucas was up in a second and standing in the aisle. His sudden rage at the man's words was inexplicable until he thought about it for a minute. For a second, less than a second, Lucas had felt the same way after seeing the entire road filled with the things for almost a mile. He had thought about abandoning his wife and their six-year old girl just to live. But he couldn't, he wouldn't, ponder about life without them.

"Gary, I don't know you, but if you want to go then you get the fuck outta here. I'm gettin' back to my family with more food for my daughter and enough ammo that maybe we'll make it through the fuckin' winter. But if I think you're going to fuck up my chances of that, I swear to God, I'll kill ya before those psycho bitches even _think_ about it."

"Is that so?" Gary stood to his full height, shorter than Lucas, but probably half again as heavy.

"Yeah," Lucas drew his pistol and pointed it right at Gary's gut, "Who you got depending on you, Gary? Hmm?"

Gary, who looked as though he was nearly pissing his pants at the thought of being shot, growled, "A good for nothin' wife and a smartass five-year old."

"Do you love 'em?" Gary hesitated, "I asked you a question!?"

"Yes, damnit," the man answered, before sitting down in a seat, placing his head in his hands, and bursting into tears.

David sat up and immediately went to his friend. He put a hand on Gary's shoulder as the big man cried.

"That was a little harsh, Lucas," Larry said, still on the floor.

"I'm gettin back to my family," Lucas growled, "No matter what it takes."


	16. Chapter 16

Awareness slowly came back to Alanna as the first rays of the rising sun touched her skin. The spreading warmth on her face only made the stickiness of the blood coating her skin that much more repulsive. She ignored the feeling and instead went through the breathing exercises that would help eliminate her grogginess.

"You ain't got me fooled, Leann," one of the men, she thought it was the one called David, whispered to Tempest, "What'll it take for me and you to take a walk? All I'm asking for is a handjob now. A couple of buddies told me about you 'fore we left. Told me how up you were for all types of stuff. Just 'cause you hooked up with these crazies don't mean you're better'n before. So stop actin'-"

Tempest cut the man off with a quiet chuckle, " You shouldn't whisper so loudly, David. I am fully committed to not one, but two individuals, and they both tend to be rather overprotective of my honor. One of those individuals is in the seat behind you and has heard every word you have said."

"Bull-" the word was cut off by a quiet choking sound and the stomping of the man's boots on the floor of the bus.

"I would advise you to not repeat this incident again. If you do, she will kill you, and if you somehow manage to kill her then _I_ will end you and it will not go quickly."

Ragged coughing was soon followed by angry stomping as the man rejoined his sleeping fellows in the back of the bus. Alanna sat up and smirked at Silent. She and Tempest were still not friends but their mutual dislike had smoothed since they had saved each other's lives. Tempest turned to her and shrugged her blood-stained shoulderpads.

"He's a big asshole who likes to cheat but since his wife likes to cheat they call it swinging and fuck anyone who's willing."

Alanna shook her head, "Goddamn Others. It is hard to believe I used to be one."

The stink rolling off the three of them was a combination of blood, viscera, and sweat that they had accumulated during the search of the school. They had found twenty Risen roaming the halls and the doors to the fallout shelter had been locked tight. Ferocious pounding had greeted a soft knock and Alanna had marked the door with a giant red X using a can of spray paint they had found.

"Come on," Alanna yawned and cracked her neck, "We need to prepare for the day. It's going to be a busy one."

It took the Warrior-Hunters far too long to rouse the men into some semblance of wakefulness. Alanna blamed herself for not realizing how sleepless a night surrounded by Risen would be for these Others. Eating and evacuation took less time, none of them seemed to have much appetite, so that Alanna's mental schedule was not thrown completely off.

"So what's the plan, boss-lady?" Gary asked, his face twisted into a sour grimace as he sat with his forearms on the seat in front of him.

Alanna turned her head slightly to look at him out of the corner of her eye before turning back to the notepad she had written on shortly before falling asleep last night.

"The school has been cleared. Do not go into any of the doors marked with a red X. There is an autoshop classroom on the north side of the building. Gary, Lucas, and Brian are going to remain here and make sure these buses are ready to go. Do _not_ start them until we have returned. If there are Risen in the area, they will respond, and it will be best to eliminate them quietly."

Lucas raised his hand and Alanna nodded at him to speak, " I thought we were supposed to get moving vans or something?"

Alanna smiled at him, "You are correct but I am the team leader and Achilles gave me full authority to improvise as I see fit. These buses provide a prime opportunity to maximize our resources and get even more supplies through. While you three are prepping the buses, the rest of us will clear the supermarket, and begin transporting the supplies back here. Tomorrow we will locate moving trucks and prepare them as well. I will radio Achilles to inform him that we need an additional day." Alanna let her smile disappear as she looked at each of the three men they would leave behind, "Make no mistake, Others. Your lives, the lives of your families, depend on this work getting done as quickly and accurately as possible. Keep your eyes and ears sharp for Risen. Use your radios if you get into trouble and we will come for you. You are not People but for these next days we will treat you as though you are. That means that we belong to you and you to us. Do not forget that. Now let's get to work."

* * *

The first day went by so quickly that Alanna emerged from the supermarket with her tenth shopping cart, full of toilet paper this time, only to discover that the odd golden-purple hue of sunset was upon them.

The Myrmidon clicked her transceiver and spoke softly into the mic, "Okay, team, the sun's setting. Drop what you're doing and meet me up front."

Alanna returned her cart to the area just inside the automated doors and waited for the others to join her. Soon they were all assembled before her, the Others looked particularly haggard, and a quick jerk of the head had Alanna's group moving back to the school. They were trudging their way up a small hill, nearly two-thirds of the way to the school, when a small pop echoed through the air.

"Was that a gunshot?" David asked and was answered by a cacophony of gunshots and what sounded like cheering.

"Go back to the buses," Alanna ordered the Others while simultaneously Signing to her Myrmidons, **Recon. Twenty foot spread. Engage only at need.**

Silent and Tempest nodded before springing into ground-eating strides that carried them away. Alanna waited until the necessary space was achieved between them before joining the hunt. The trio of Myrmidons zeroed in on the location of the gunshots quickly and altered their course to take them through the winding cover of the multi-story homes that dominated this part of the town. Only a few of the domiciles had fences but more than adequate cover was provided by the various machinery, wrecked vehicles, and general debris that had been left behind after the End Time. The sky darkened considerably in the time it took for them to locate the source of the insanely stupid celebration. Silent, out front as usual, stopped behind a six foot high wooden fence.

**On the other side. **Silent Signed as she waited for her sister Myrmidons to catch up.

Alanna stopped and studied the single-storied house that the fence surrounded. The top of the roof seemed relatively flat and would provide a perfect vantage point for them. Her decision made, Alanna gestured for them to ascend the domicile, and led the charge. The house had a shed of some sort attached to its side and it provided a ready means of access to the roof. They scrambled silently to the top of the shed and Alanna boosted the other two up to the roof before being assisted in turn with her ascension. Soon they were on their bellies at the edge of the roof watching a prime example of Other unworthiness.

At least fifteen adults were cavorting around a bonfire in the large backyard of an even bigger house. Each and everyone of them was totally naked. The smell of the bonefire, made from who knew what, and the sour smell of their unwashed bodies was enough to make Alanna gag despite her own stench. There were seven men in total and three of them were up dancing around the fire with pistols in their hands. Clutched in the opposite hand of each man was a bottle of liquor Alanna deduced from their erratic motions. Two other men were engaged in some manner of sexual act with one of the women; while the remainder of the men and women just sat around the fire in a daze that was all too familiar to Alanna. After watching the debacle for several minutes, Alanna signed for her Warrior-Hunters to retreat. The return to ground level was done quickly and with almost complete silence.

**What was wrong with those that could not move?** Silent asked, her brow furrowed in puzzlement.

**They were on drugs. Hard to say what kind. There are several that can produce such an effect that are easy to make at home with ingredients that are easy to come by now.** Alanna answered and neither had to guess how she had acquired that knowledge.

The Warrior-Hunter had freely shared her sordid history with all of the Myrmidons. Achilles had also done the same, although he tended to be a bit obtuse about his family and love interest to all but Alanna. Achilles had claimed it helped solidify the group if they were all viewed as human instead of the untouchable killing machines everyone seemed to see the two as.

Tempest spit on the ground with a sneer, **Are they really that stupid to get high right** **before night falls and fire guns that will attract every Risen within earshot?**

**Peace, Tempest,** Alanna held up her hands,** If they do attract** **Risen, it will provide a welcome distraction from our efforts. If they hamper our efforts directly,** Alanna made a sharp slashing motion that would be easy for even an Other to comprehend.

Her sister Myrmidons nodded solemnly, not pleased with the idea, but not shying away from the cold necessity of it either.

**Let us return to our Others and let them know what we have found.**

Alanna quickly discovered upon their return that the Myrmidon's Others needed no such warning. She found Gary and David with an unfamiliar man and four women. All of the strange Others were terribly skinny and pale. The closer they got the more Alanna felt she had nailed the drug they were obviously taking on a daily basis.

_Definitely meth or crack. It would explain the skin-and-bones looks. Not to mention the burnt fingers and lips._

She was pleased to see that Lucas was standing watch on top of one of the schoolbuses while not a hint of light escaped the vehicle thanks to the heavy curtains they had found to hang up. The big man nodded to her, his smile wide with relief, as the trio of Warrior-Hunters stalked towards the small fire they had made.

There was no paraphernalia laying around but all of them had bottles of some kind of amber liquid in hand as they sat around the fire made out of smashed wood they had probably attained from the school.

"I thought I said no fires," Alanna asked, startling the carousing Others.

"Holy shit!" the man shouted, his high-pitched wail caused Alanna's upper lip to curl slightly. The drug addict grabbed his chest and exposed a mouth full of rotted teeth with a wide grin. "You almos' scared the piss out of me!"

"Lower your voice, Other!" Tempest hissed, tomahawk clenched in a tight fist.

"Who the fu-?" David grabbed the strange Other's arm and whispered in his ear.

Each of the women had immediately darted to Gary's flanks and clutched in pathetic fashion at his arms. The big man seemed to be enjoying the attention immensely.

"Well, you guys startled me a bit is all," now the stranger's voice had lowered an octave and was definitely calmer, "My name's George Monroe."

Alanna looked at his extended hand and grinned internally, "I am Alanna of the Myrimidon."

"That's a really funny name, girly," George chuckled softly but his expression quickly shifted to one of disgust at the feel of Alanna's grimy glove.

"Oh, I apologize, George Monroe. I have not had a chance to clean my glove yet. Would you like to meet my sisters?"

Alanna's facial expression did not waver but inside she was howling with laughter as she imagined Silent and Tempest extended equally gore-coated hands to the Other.

"No, no, that's alright," the man backed away as a warm breeze brought several harsh smells from his direction.

_This could have been my future_, Alanna thought disgustedly.

"Why are you here?" the Warrior-Hunter finally got to the heart of the matter in what was quickly becoming typical Myrmidon fashion.

George Monroe's pallid skin took on an almost ethereal glow as though Alanna's stare was ushering him into the cold embrace of death Herself.

"Well, uhm, like I explained to Dave and Gary here, I've got a group of people wit' me. We're lookin' for supplies to take back to our shelter up in the woods. But these guys here, man, well when they told me about the fort-thing their town's building, I figured that was the place to go. I..."

_I should kill them all_, at one time the thought would have made Alanna completely uncomfortable, even ill. Now she weighed the pros and cons of her actions with an untroubled mind.

"The first, and most important thing, you should know is that these two are in charge of no one but themselves. They have no say in your group coming back to our encampment." Alanna tried to release the tension in her muscles without taking a deep breath as her words caused the man's brow to lower, "The second thing you should be aware of is that _everyone_ works in our community. And finally, there are no drugs allowed in the encampment, we have a small supply of liquor but drunkenness is severely punished."

"What does 'severely punished' mean?" Monroe asked, his forehead scrunching up even more.

Alanna grinned and looked at Gary, "You haven't shown him?"

"Shown me what?" Monroe's eyebrows rose almost into his hairline when Gary shot Alanna a poisonous glare.

"Fifty lashes as you are tied to an atonement spike," Alanna's grin disappeared as quickly as it had spread across her face.

"Are you fuckin' wit' me?" a vein in the center of the drug addict's forehead

"No."

Monroe took several deep breaths and plastered on the most insincere smile Alanna had seen in months, "Okay, okay. We can do that. I'll make sure my people know the rules and stick to 'em."

"How many are you?" Alanna already had some idea but wanted the man to confirm it for her.

"About twenty-three."

"What kind of weapons do you have?"

"Not too much. A couple pistols, a rifle or two." Monroe lied smoothly because Alanna had seen more than that just during that backyard celebration.

_At least he didn't say they don't have any. That would have been far too unbelievable. I guess the drugs haven't completely eaten his brain._

"Okay. Have them here in the morning. I want them sober and ready to work. We have a lot of material to get loaded up. Rest well, Other, you will need it." Alanna turned her stony gaze on David and Gary, "Once we are all inside that bus then the door will be closed to you."

**I'm going to radio Achilles. Sweep the perimeter twice. Stay sharp.** Alanna Signed after she turned to her sisters.

The two Myrmidons nodded, Tempest hit Silent's shoulderpad with the bottom of her fist, and jogged off into the growing darkness. Alanna quickly grabbed the military communication pack from the bus and slipped it on. The backpack contraption probably weighed fifteen pounds but she took the weight with only a small grunt. Larry and Brian were already snoring as though someone had inserted foghorns in their throats. Several minutes later, after an invigorating climb up the ropes they had rigged for the very purpose, Alanna sat on the roof with the comm.-gear. She still had no idea how the thing worked but she could use it.

"_Base, this is Alpha-alpha, come back. Over."_ she spoke in a normal tone into the transceiver. Alanna had hooked up her ear mic to the more powerful equipment in the pack. _"I repeat, Base. This is Alpha-alpha. Come back. Over."_

There was a burst of static before she got a reply, _"This is Base, Alpha-Alpha. We read you, loud and clear. Lead will be here in less than twenty seconds. Over."_

"_Roger, Base. Over."_

Soon, Achilles calm voice seemed to be whispering in her ear, eliciting a delicious shiver up her spin.

"_This is Lead, Alpha-alpha. Status. Over."_

"_I have altered the original plan, Lead. Have located additional vehicular assets. Need additional twenty-four hours to prep conveyance. Have been approached by Others, twenty-plus. They wish to come back with us. Over."_

"_Threat assessment. Over."_

"_Minimal to Base. Moderate to Alpha. T-to-T they are like all Others when compared to Warrior-Hunters. Maybe worse. All suffer from prolonged drug use. Physical capablities may have diminished greatly. They have firearms of unknown amount or quality. Over."_

"_Request for additional time is granted. Bring these new Others but remain cautious, Alpha-alpha. I-"_

_I love you, too, Achilles,_ Alanna thought, warm despite the slight chill of the night air.

Achilles voice came back a moment later, once again under control, _"Is that all, Alpha-alpha? Over."_

"_That is all, Lead. Over."_

"_Will wait for confirmation of departure. Base, over and out."_

"_Understood, Base. Alpha-alpha, over and out."_

Alanna tucked the transceiver back into its compartment and sighed at the half-moon staring coldly down on the tragic fate of humanity.

"Time to get back to work," Alanna reminded herself and stood to do just that.


	17. Chapter 17

"_The next time I allow drug addict Others to assist us,"_ Alanna pursed her lips in disgust as she looked at what was occurring along the route leading from the supermarket to the bus, _"Someone slit my fucking throat. Over."_

Tempest's chuckle carried clearly over the channel, _"Such language, Alanna. Over."_

Alanna growled and held her middle finger up in Tempest's general direction. Tempest and Silent were walking the perimeter along the southwest section now while Alanna was perched on the roof of the post office. Several of the new additions to the crew were roughhousing in the middle of the street instead of trying to move their supplies as quickly as possible. She growled low in her throat as one of the fools actually tipped over a cart filled with glass bottles of lemon juice. Three others were sitting on the curb actually taking hits from their crack pipes in broad daylight.

_Others,_ Alanna thought in disgust as she jogged to the employee parking lot side of the roof.

The Myrmidon woman hopped onto the edge of the roof and jumped without hesitation. She landed on the back of a large truck, probably used to ship mail in bulk, and rolled to dampen the impact. Once she came to her feet she immediately jumped to the side, hit the roof of a delivery truck, and bounded off of that to the roof of an older model sedan. Several strides, from roof to ground, had her moving at a fast jog towards the street. It further inflamed Alanna's pride as People that none of the Others had even thought to investigate what had to have sounded like a giant beating on a metal drum.

So into their little recreation were the Others that they did not even notice Alanna's presence until she grabbed the tallest one by the back of his ragged shirt. The Warrior-Hunter kicked the back of his knee, gently so as not to permanently injure him, and gave a hard push forward. With a comical shout of surprise, the Other careened forward into one of the other men and both fell to the ground hard.

"Aw, man, get the fuck offa me!" the shorter one on the bottom snarled in a high-pitched voice.

"Who the fuck did that?!" the taller one, his voice deeper but still possessed of a slightly nasal twang, roared.

"I did," Alanna said, calmly stalking past them to where the three Others were sucking down copious amounts of crystal meth.

"What the fuck!?" the third one shouted in shock.

Alanna stopped in front of the addicts, looming over them, but they didn't even look up at whatever was blocking their light. She snatched the pipe right out of an addict's mouth and threw it down the street. Only after gathering the others did she notice that none of them had anything to protect their hands or lips from the hot glass. She could feel slight warmth even through her glove and noted with disgust that pieces of skin had come with the pipe. The last pipe joined the other two and she glared down at the three that were staring at their hands as though they couldn't believe what had just happened.

"Are you lucid?" Alanna asked, expecting them not to be after taking so many hits so quickly.

"What?" the lone woman of the group, her reddish-brown hair filthy and possibly lice-ridden, finally looked up.

"Can you understand me?" Alanna repeated herself slowly.

"Where the fuck my pipe go, bitch!?" the man on the woman's left screamed shrilly.

The man stood, all gnarled muscle and bone, and reached out to grab Alanna. Alanna nimbly hopped back and slipped her tomahawk free of its bonds as the man's hands closed on empty air. He looked dumbly at them for a second before looking up into Alanna's eyes.

"You three might want to restrain him. If he comes at me again, I will kill him," Alanna's voice was calm and confident so that the Others could have no doubt.

The man started coming at her again but this time the three sober Others intercepted him. Between the three of them they got him to sit down and whispered to him. Suddenly the Other's face transformed by virtue of one of the ugliest smiles Alanna had ever seen. Even uglier than Richardson's when he was plotting something particularly foul. Then all six of them turned to her with identical expressions that they probably thought were neutral but practically quivered with hostility.

_Plotting something, are we?_

"Now. Are you going to get moving?" Alanna asked, relaxing as she prepared to draw the sidearm strapped to her thigh.

The Others grumbled among themselves before they rose to their feet and started rolling their various supplies down the street. One of them, the woman, appeared startled at her overturned cart. One look at Alanna's glare had her righting it and walking away despite the juice still dripping from it.

Alanna shook her head and darted down an alleyway overgrown with weeds. Using another series of cars as improvised stepping stones, she gained access to the top of a garage, and that allowed her to just barely grab the edge of some kind of service area on the building. This service area led to the roof via a small staircase. Her hand was on the transceiver before she even reached the edge.

"_These Others are plotting something. Keep on the watch for a betrayal. Remember that they are Others and their lives are worthless to us._ _Over_."

"_We read you. Over."_

"_I'm going to check out the house they were using as a domicile to make sure none of them are squatting there while we work. Over and out."_

Alanna raised her head to the sky and took several deep, calming breaths before sprinting into action. Less than ten minutes later she was breathlessly ascending the same domicile they had used last night to observe the Others. What she saw this time caused her heavy breathing to becoming broken by intermittent growling. Half a dozen children were sorting various small boxes on top of a big table that someone had set up. From their colors and size, Alanna deduced that they were probably cold medications of some form or another. A pair of women were supervising the children, both of them older and probably unattractive even when they were clean, while they passed a bottle of liquor between them. Several men came into the backyard and everyone immediately tensed.

"Wha' tha' fuck are they doin' out here!?" the shortest man there barked, his hands on the hips of his disgusting looking overalls.

"Well, we though' they might need some air," one of the women said, her voice low and timid.

"Since when are you suppose' ta think, bitch?!" the man's high, shrill voice cut through the quiet air as though he were a living chainsaw.

When he hit the woman, with a sloppy backhand that was as slow as it was easily telegraphed, no one even blinked an eye. Alanna had seen enough of this type of thing, before and after the End Time, that she knew it happened on a regular basis. The brown-haired woman fell to the ground with boneless grace but she was not unconscious. It was more the fall of someone who had no more fight left in them. She didn't even hold a hand to her cheek.

"You two watch these little shits. I've got an itch to scratch," the little man grabbed his crotch and grinned nastily at the woman he had just hit.

The male Other grabbed the woman by the arm and she rose as listlessly as she had fallen. He led her back through the patio doors and disappeared into the dark confines of the house. Several minutes later the tallest man spit and grabbed the remaining woman.

"Hey, Jer?! " the remaining Other screeched, "Where tha' fuck ya goin'?"

"To get some ass, you fuckin' pussy. Now shut the fuck up and watch the goddamn brats!" Jer's voice was deep but sounded raw as though he had smoked far too much meth.

The last Other grumbled softly to himself for a few minutes after they had disappeared. Then he suddenly stopped, grinned and turned to the children.

"Hey, Jenny, come here," he called softly to the oldest girl at the table. She couldn't have been more than twelve.

A wild grin spread across Alanna's face, one that she was only partially aware of, and she made her way back to the ground. She didn't even bother vaulting over the wall, the Myrmidon simply ducked a shoulder and burst through several rotting boards as though they weren't there, and every occupant of the yard let out a surprised shriek. Alanna straightened and turned to find her prey less than dozen feet away. The girl was on her knees, tears streaking from her bright blue eyes, and the man's jeans were already around his ankles. Being the redneck that he was, the Other wasn't wearing underwear, and his half-engorged member was exposed for all to see. Again, it struck Alanna as something that had happened before, and fury flowed like acid in her veins. The girl scrambled backward at the look in Alanna's eyes while the man's dull blue eyes seemed to look right through her.

"Wha-?" his words disappeared with a choking exhalation as Alanna buried the entire head of her spear-club into his sternum to fold him up at the waist.

The Myrmidon unspooled her garotte and whipped it around his neck in a flash. She twisted it tight, spun so that her back was to the man, and leaned back so that she was momentarily supported by the heavier man's lower back. Using her hips as a fulcrum of sorts, Alanna raised her legs high and levered them back down with blistering force. As soon as her feet hit the ground, the momentum was transferred to her shocked victim and the Other's feet swung up into the air. Alanna bent at the waist, letting the Other fall over her shoulder, and jerked up sharply with the handles of her garrotte. There was a meaty combination of a pop and a crack that left the man convulsing on the ground. The Warrior-Hunter crouched over the dying man and drew her sidearm in case either of the other men came out of the house. Once her prey had stilled, Alanna removed her garotte, pushed him onto his back, and removed her spear-club from his stomach. She turned to find that the children were huddled together and watching her with wide, fear-filled eyes.

Alanna held a finger to where her lips would be on her faceguard, "Shh! Do not fear, children. He can not hurt you any longer. I will let no Other hurt you again. I need you to be quiet now though. Can you do that?" The children nodded and Alanna smiled, "Good kids." The Warrior-Hunter hit the shoulder transceiver, _"This is Alpha. I have a situation. Over."_

"_Bravo-Charlie standing by. Over."_

"_They have children at primary domicile along with two keepers. Three Others came and two took keepers for recreation. The remaining sought to use a child for his. I have eliminated the pedo and will shortly eliminate the other two. I want you here ASAP to assist in securing the children, possibly the women, and preparing them for immediate evac. Over."_

"_Roger, Alpha. ETA in fifteen minutes. Over."_

"_Roger, Bravo-Charlie. Over and out."_

Alanna turned back to the children and identified the one that they all seemed to cling to. It was a taller boy, maybe thirteen years old, who had a stiff-backed stance that seemed unafraid. The Myrmidon knew it was empty bravado though.

"You, boy, what's your name?" Alanna pointed to the leader with a glove that still dripped with the blood of the disgusting Other cooling at her feet.

"Bruce, ma'am," the child said in a rough voice completely ill-fitting for his age.

"Bruce, my sisters will be here soon to take care of you, but I offer you this choice. Would you like me to spare those women who were taking care of you children?"

The boy swallowed and looked toward the house, "Uhm, if you mean do I wan'cha to save Carol and Linda, then yeah. Please, ma'am."

Alanna nodded and moved to the table that had a heavy oak top. She ducked low and toppled it over by standing to her full height before pushing it off her left shoulder. The crash was thunderous but Alanna doubted the lecherous addicts would even notice. She knew their kind and they had probably smoked before they even came into the backyard.

"Hide behind here, children. Do not move until I come back out or my sisters arrive," Alanna waved the children to the cover that the desk would offer from stray bullets.

Bruce whispered to one of the other older children and the girl led one of the smallest behind the table. Quickly all of the children were huddled on the ground and Alanna gave Bruce a small tap on the shoulder as she moved past him. The Battle-Mind was firmly rooted, it had been at the first sight of the Other's abuse of the children, and her sidearm was in her hand before she reached the sliding glass doors. Each of the Myrmidon was trained to shoot with either hand but Alanna was a bit steadier with the M9 in her left hand. She thumbed the safety and slid the door open with the hand clutching her tomahawk.

The doors let her into a huge kitchen with a massive island to her left and an equally impressive refrigeration unit in the wall to her right. There was an open pathway from the kitchen to the interior of the house, so four quick passes of her line of sight, and Alanna was creeping her way further into the house. She passed a stairway on her left and then she was at the threshold of some sort of recreation room. Several plush, purple couches were scattered around the room in front of a huge entertainment center. One of the couches was partially blocking the entranceway but it was thumping against the wall. The second Other was easy to spot. He was in the middle of the floor, dirty buttocks exposed to the air, making an appalling squealing noise as he raped the woman beneath him. Alanna quietly slipped her tomahawk into its bindings, unsnapped the knife on her shoulder, and slid the blade from its sheathe. Four steps had her standing over the couch where the Other had his victim on her stomach. One hand was on her chin while his opposite arm was wrapped around her neck.

Alanna grabbed the Other's greasy, shoulder-length hair with the hand clutching her sidearm. He offered next to no resistance when the Warrior-Hunter pulled his head back as far as she could considering her grip. His eyes met her's for an instant before she slit his throat with a well-practiced motion. The freshly honed edge of the blade slid through the disgusting Other's skin smoothly and blood spilled forth as soon as her cut was done. She pushed the other's head away and her gun-hand was rising towards the remaining Other as he was rising from atop his woman. Alanna waited until he had turned fully around before firing a single shot. The bullet hit the Other somewhere between his forehead and his mouth. Gore burst outward to cover the expensive widescreen television mounted on the wall behind him. Any expression or sound the Other might have made was lost as the force of impact snapped his head back. Alanna watched without feeling as the Other stumbled backward to hit the entertainment center before slumping onto his ass and sliding so that his head rested against the floor. He took three labored breaths before the calmness of death claimed him.

"Oh my god," the woman on the couch whispered as she pushed the still twitching other off of her. She sat up and looked at the slick blood coating her lividly bruised breasts before breaking into terrified shrieking.

Alanna holstered her sidearm and silenced the woman with a hand around her already abused neck.

"Silence, Other. Right now."

"Oh fuck!" the woman in the middle of the floor was finally getting up. She took one look at the ruin that was her tormentor's face and began speaking in a monotonous, chanting rhythm, "Fuck, fuck, fuck."

_I do not know what is more annoying. These Other's accents or their idiocy._

"The children wait for you outside. Clean yourself up and then go to them. Wait for my sisters. Can you do that?" Alanna fixed her gaze on the woman and held it.

Almost a full minute passed, Alanna was actually counting to help keep her patience in check, before the woman nodded. The Myrmidon released the poor woman's throat and cleaned her knife on the back of the sofa before sheathing it. As soon as the woman scrambled off the couch, Alanna vaulted over the obstruction and into the rec room. She calmly stepped up to the traumatized Other, grabbed her shoulders, and shook her vigorously for several seconds.

"What the fuck are ya doin', bitch!?" the woman finally shrieked and Alanna released her.

"The children need you. Go to them. My sisters are coming so stay in that yard. I will be there shortly."

The Other looked at Alanna as though the Myrmidon was some sort of hallucination. Alanna made a move as if to shake her and the woman quickly backed away.

"Okay, okay, I'm goin'!"

Alanna waited until the Others had exited the domicile before she began to search the house.

She had some idea where they would be cooking up their product and her search yielded immediate results in the form of a small lab in the basement. Someone had been using it as an apartment before the End Time and even the bathroom was stuffed with raw ingredients for the production of the drug. The Myrmidon quickly raced back into the living room where the door to the basement was before the fumes made her sick. She collided with a body as they were coming in from the front door. Alanna hit the ground and rolled to her feet before she had even settled. The malodorous Other groaned pitifully as he clutched his back while rolling on the floor.

"Ow! My back! What the fuck!?" the man displayed a mouth full of blackened teeth in his shout of fright at finding Alanna in their supposed hideout.

Alanna drew her M9 and held it in an unwavering grip with its barrel pressed against the man's skull. Her earpiece burst into static-filled life at that moment.

"_Alpha, come in. This is Bravo-Charlie. We are at waypoint. What is your position? Over."_

Alanna thumbed her transceiver, _"This is Alpha. I am in the domicile's living room. I have a squealer. Will need Charlie's assistance. Over."_

"_Roger that, Alpha. Charlie is en-route. Over."_

Silent was at her side in less than a minute, her sniper rifle slung across her back, M9 in her right hand leading the way. The mute Warrior-Hunter nodded and lowered her sidearm at the sight of Alanna. There was no need for words between the two as they quickly tied the Other to a kitchen chair with nylon cord Silent procured from the basement and dragged him into the first floor bathroom. Silent stood behind him, naked trophy-extractor resting just behind his left ear, and watched Alanna with steady eyes.

"Now, Other, I am going to ask your questions. You are going to answer me truthfully, yes?" The Other spit directly onto Alanna's faceguard but paled as the only reaction was a girlish giggle. "Was that a yes?"

"I ain't tellin' you shit, bitch!" the man chuckled, "That torture shit doesn't work in the real world. Everybody knows that. I'll just start telling you whatever you want to hear if ya start cuttin' on me."

Alanna giggled again, something Achilles had told her would make people doubt her mental state and make them more pliable, "You are smart, aren't you? But, you see, this is the thing. I'm not going to torture you and ask you the same questions over and over again. No, you only get three chances to answer my questions with truth."

The man sneered, "Or what? You'll kill me? I ain't afraid o' no fucking dykes like you!"

Alanna giggled again, this time for an extended period, "No, Other. I'm going to cut your testicles off. Two fingers off of both hands and the majority of your toes. Then I'm going to take one of your eyes and split your tongue. Then I'm going to let you go. I'm going to let you live everyday of the rest of your life, however long you chose to live it, knowing that things could have gone a far easier way for you if you had just told the truth. That is what will happen if you lie to me. Understand?"

The man swallowed and nodded, "And what'll happen if I tell you the truth."

"We will release you when the time is right with a minimum of pain and time." Alanna leaned forward until the man had to lean back into the knife to avoid her gaze. "What is your leader planning to do?"

"He wants ta go ta your camp and just set up a lab there, tha's all. Ya know. Exchange tha dope for protection, food, and women. Monroe said we'd be set cause those two guys said they could run things with more people on their side. That guy, Gary I think, said that there was only four or five of you that we even needed to worry 'bout. We just wanted a place to stay the winter with some heat. Tha's all!"

"Some heat and a place to smoke your meth and fuck your women, right?" the man nodded vigorously, "Well, I believe you and so does my sister. Release him."

The man's eyebrows widened in brief hope but then snapped open in shock as the cold kiss of steel opened his throat. He tried to speak and a thick stream of blood spilled from between his cheeks. Tears began streaming down the Other's face as he struggled to breath, mouth gaping like a fish, and the smell of fresh urine quickly joined his overall stench. Alanna and Silent waited patiently for the Other to expire before exiting the bathroom.

**What are we going to do, Alanna?** Silent Signed as they headed to the backyard.

Alanna stopped and placed her arms on the her sister Myrmidon's shoulderpads. They locked eyes for a moment before the Lioness spoke.

"What we were trained to do, Silent. What we _excel_ at," Alanna grinned behind her faceguard, "We are going to kill them all."

* * *

"This is crazy," Lucas whispered as he hunched over his plate of crappy MRE food.

Lucas, Brian, and Larry were sitting on _their_ bus with Alanna at the moment. The Myrmidon had just finished catching them up on the plan and what was going to happen in the next few minutes. Their role would be to huddle beneath the bullet-proof vest lined seats and keep the bus secure. They, like all Others, felt the need to argue.

"Why do we have to kill them? Can't we talk to them or something? They can't all be bad." Larry said, chewing on the drawstring of his hoody nervously.

"We are not killing them all. Their children will live and I think they will make good Myrmidons. I always wanted children," Alanna grinned tightly at all the men, "You did not listen to the tales of Carol and Linda. There were twice as many people in their group at the beginning of the year. Overdoses, disease, and ill use of the women have decimated their population and skill-set. This is what they want to bring into our camp. They are all guilty and must be either killed or exiled. We can not risk our mission for any of them. So killing them _all_ is our only option." Alanna stood and stretched in her underarmor, "This is not up for negotiation. You can sound the alarm if you think they deserve to live more than your wives and children. But then your lives will be as forfeit as theirs and my Lord Achilles is far less forgiving than I am."

"Goddamn if you've got an ounce in you," Lucas whispered, but Alanna heard him clearly.

"Exactly, Lucas," Alanna ran her hands down her sides to her hips, "Do I look tasty, boys?"

All three of them looked at her as though she had just strangled a bull with her bare hands.

"I'll take that as a yes."

Alanna walked off the bus and headed straight to where Monroe and five of his men were sitting down eating lunch. All of the remaining Others were scattered around the parking lot taking their tenth break of the day. The sun was low in the sky now, low for the mountains anyway, and they were only slightly ahead of their original schedule. All of the men looked up at her approach and one of them even let the piece of meat hanging from his mouth drop to the ground.

_What is it with men and this underarmor?_

Alanna smiled in the most salacious fashion she could remember from her days as a party-girl and laid a hand on Monroe's bare shoulder. All of the men were topless and were probably going to have the worst sunburn.

_Well, they won't have that to worry about because they'll be dead soon._

"I think I left something in the girls locker room. I need some strong hands to find it. Are you guys busy?"

It was a lame line, even Alanna during her days as Claire Marie would not have fallen for it easily, but these were men driven into sexual frenzy by methamphetamine abuse. All of them stood with dull looks on their faces and followed her into the heavy metal doors that led to the gymnasium. It was a fairly big gym and the girls locker room even had showers. The light from the sun gave the space a warm, almost heavenly, air that Alanna felt almost uneasy about disturbing.

Alanna had already placed several lamps inside the locker room to give them light. A semi-circle of them waited just outside the shower entrance. A low bench, big enough for the men, sat in front a wall that blocked casual viewing of the showering backs of girls from anyone that happened into the locker room.

"Sit. I have a surprise for you," Alanna backed into the shower entranceway with a wide grin on her face.

_None of the fools even armed themselves except for those ridiculously huge Bowie knives._

Alanna grabbed the semi-automatic shotgun from where she had placed it just inside the frame and had the weapon aimed before it even registered to any of the Others that she was holding a firearm. She went from left to right and it was unfortunate Monroe was not the first in her sight. Alanna's first shot hit the Other in the upper chest and knocked him back against the wall. The harsh boom of her shotgun seemed to shake the men awake. The next man tried to move but only managed to lay his head in line with the third Other's torso. Alanna, in line with her training, shot the first man through the neck. The shot lost some of its punch but it was enough to perforate the torso of the Other behind her target.

"Fucking bitch!" one of the Others was charging at her, spittle flying from his mouth, eyes red with rage.

Alanna took a step back, took the grip high in a batting stance, and hit the man directly in the face with the smoking hot barrel. He screamed, high and long, as he clutched his face and rolled into the legs of Monroe. Alanna let the last one, who had nimbly leaped over the collision, have a shell directly in his face. Brain, bone, and blood splashed everywhere as the body careened backwards. Monroe hit her in a classic tackle that carried them both into the bathroom. She lost her grip on the shotgun and his hands were around her throat quickly.

"You fucking bitch! Fucking _cunt_!" his words came out slurred as he started to choke the life out of Alanna.

The Myrmidon didn't even try to breathe. She just started wheezing laughter. His grip slackened as human curiosity overcame his black rage.

"You're gonna die, you whore! Why're you laughing?!" the Other shouted in her face.

"Listen, Other."

Monroe turned his head as the faint sounds of screams and gunfire reached his ears.

"I win."

Monroe turned back, his hands starting to squeeze, and Alanna's hand darted up as though it had suddenly transformed into a snake. Her middle finger punctured his eyeball with a sick squishing sound that Alanna would remember until the day she died. His scream was piercing, a banshee shriek of combined pain and horror, and then Alanna pulled him back to her by his occipital bone. An upthrust of her hips had their positions reversed in an instant.

"I hate Others," Alanna growled as she slammed his head into the tile floor over and over again.


	18. Chapter 18

"Fuckin' whores! This fuckin' hur's damnit!" Jarvis Tillman mumbled to himself as he stumbled down a nearly pitch black corridor.

One hand was clasped around his right thigh as Jarvis limped dejectedly down the hallway. The man had no idea how long he had lain in the alcove just in front of one of the emergency exits. Someone, a man's deep voice shouting something about checking the school, had woken Jarvis up. Jarvis hadn't stop moving since, the pain in his leg grew worse with each step, and he was starting to feel light-headed.

_Jesus, I need another hit._

Soft footsteps echoed down the hallway and Jarvis immediately pissed his pants. Embarrassment at losing control over his bladder was overridden by his heightened sense of self-preservation. Jarvis' heart, damaged beyond repair by his drug abuse, felt as though it would burst apart as he increased his pace towards huge metal doors with something painted across them.

It looked like an X.

* * *

Alanna was checking what looked like a chemistry lab for the foolish child that had taken it upon herself to wander into the school building when the first shrieks echoed through the halls. She knew immediately what that meant.

"_Bravo-Charlie, this is Alpha! Containment has been lost! Prepare for immediate evac! Over!"_

"_Roger that, Alpha. Over."_

"_ETA three minutes minus! Alpha, over and out!"_

Alanna emerged from the door, glad to see that Lucas and the Other named Carol were still there. Carol clutched a huge flashlight in trembling hands while Lucas had his pump-action shotgun in his.

"Time to go." Alanna said, hefting her semi-automatic shotgun over one shoulder.

"But we haven't found Casey yet!" Carol shouted, her voice cracking on the final word.

"No time," Alanna looked to her left and right as the screams suddenly cut off. "We have no idea how many are in that bomb shelter but I think it is far more than we can handle without attracting the attention of every Risen within ten miles. Now-"

"Carol," the voice sounded so young and afraid that Alanna's chest actually got tight with emotion, "I'm scared."

"Don' be scared, baby!" the woman ran to the child in the T-junction at the end of the hall and hugged it to her legs.

That was the only thing that saved the Other youth because the trio of Risen that tackled the woman had obviously been attracted by the child. Alanna was moving before she could even think about her course of action.

"Lucas, stay behind me! Grab the child when I throw her to you and get out!" Alanna yelled as she sprinted for all she was worth.

Alanna thought that the man behind her gave an affirmative between pants as he struggled to keep up with her. Alanna slid to a halt in front of the sobbing child as the Risen tore into Carol's body. The woman had not made a sound, her end had come so quick, and Alanna thought that was a mercy. What sounded like an entire herd of Risen was coming at her from the left hallway and she knew their time was quickly running out. Alanna grabbed the little girl and tossed her at Lucas.

"Go!" she screamed just before latching her faceguard.

"Wha' about you!?" Lucas shouted, his face lost to the shadows of the room.

"Someone has to be the distraction! Go! Five minutes! That's all I get! Go!" Alanna barked, as Lucas turned and actually ran.

Alanna grinned as she tongued her mouthpiece in place and calmly shot the Risen chewing on Carol's ankle in the head. The remaining two rose quickly but successive shots had their partially decapitated bodies convulsing their way to the floor. The Warrior-Hunter hopped over Carol's body, turned, aimed the barrel of the shotgun directly at the corpse's forehead, and pulled the trigger. The Other, who had found her bravery at last, had met an end any Myrmidon would be proud to have.

Alanna let her shotgun hang from its sling as she drew her sidearm and started backing away from the slight curve in the left hallway. She cocked the hammer on the M9, took a deep breath, and waited. When the first Risen stumbled into the harsh radiance of the PLS on her shoulder, Alanna downed it with a single round to the temple before the undead fiend could even turn in her direction. That set the others off and three more came around the corner in a bizarre, ungraceful stride that was not quite the mad dash of a recently reanimated Risen but was far faster than it should have been.

_Maybe the inactivity preserved their muscle tissue,_ Alanna thought as she aimed, fired, and repeated.

The last zombie was fifteen feet away when it tumbled to the ground with a neat hole just above its left eye. Alanna bit down on her mouthpiece in frustration as the corridor in front of her seemed to overflow with Risen. There were at least a dozen rounding the curve now. The Warrior-Hunter turned and came face-to-face with the red-purple visage of a former cheerleader. Buffy, the moniker came to her out of nowhere, tried to grab Alanna by the shoulderpads. The strength of the stick-thin Risen was impressive but her intended victim was a Myrmidon. A simple dip-and-slip maneuver had the undead girl pushing and grasping at thin air. A 9mm round to the back of the head sent Buffy to her Second Death.

The Lioness holstered her sidearm on the run and clutched the shotgun in two hands as she sprinted down the hall. She easily outpaced her pursuers but ran into a trio of Risen coming from the left hallway of an intersection. Alanna fired at chest height from the hip and all three of the tightly-packed Risen were blown off their feet. The Warrior-Hunter cut right and tried to recall where the nearest exit was.

"_This is Bravo! Where are you, Alpha? We have a situation!"_

_Don't we all._

If she remembered correctly there was an exit near the entrance to the auditorium at the end of this hall. She was at the halfway mark when the sight of over a dozen Risen striding in front of her destination made her slide to a halt.

"_There were a lot more down there than we thought, Alpha! One hundred plus at least! We have to go, Alpha!"_

Alanna pivoted on her left foot and darted into the X-marked door on her right. She slammed it shut, locked it, and snapped her head back at the first touch of hands on her shoulderpads. There was a dull crunch of compacted cartilage but the Risen did not relinquish its iron grip on her shoulders. Her feet were kicking off the door before the thought was fully formed in Alanna's mind. Risen and Myrmidon were propelled several feet back into the room before the Risen lost its footing. They hit the ground hard but Alanna maintained her grip on the shotgun so the Risen bending to try to gnaw her guts got a 16-gauge slug directly in his undead face. Alanna rolled off of the Risen beneath her, sprang to her feet, and delivered the Second Death to him. A hand grabbed her ankle from behind and she turned to find a Risen that ended from the waist down about to gnaw on the spongy straps holding her shin guards in place. The Myrmidon drew her sidearm and put a bullet in the legless freak's head.

It was then that Alanna noticed the room was brightly lit by light streaming in the windows on her right.

_Thank God for small favors._ _At least they don't have bars or some other bullshit in the windows._

Alanna unlatched the window and growled when the damn thing turned out to be the kind that only opened enough to let in air. There was no way she was fitting so the pragmatic Warrior-Hunter shot the glass out. Frantic banging on the door behind her increased to a frightening crescendo but Alanna was already slithering through the window frame. She dropped a bit more heavily than she would have if she had been fresh and immediately took off at a fast run.

Alanna found herself ascending a small rise just behind the school. The sound of two school buses and an equal number of huge U-haul trucks made her hand pause on the button of her transceiver. She gained the top and looked down at the street below her. It was a long drop, she was sure to at least sprain something if she tried, and the only other way down would take a few minutes Alanna honestly doubted she had. The lead bus turned the corner fifty feet to her right. She eyed the height of the buses and the U-hauls. The Lioness hit her transceiver with a manic grin.

"_This is Alpha. Who's in the lead? Over."_

"_We are, of course. Where are you, Alpha? Over."_

"_Right in front of you. Give the wall a kiss and I'll hitch a ride. Don't go slower than twenty. Over."_

The lead bus suddenly swerved and barreled onto the thankfully empty sidewalk.

"_Roger that, Alpha. Over."_

Alanna tightened the straps on all of her equipment and drew her spear-club. She twirled the weapon into a reverse grip, spit her mouthpiece out, hopped five times, and bent her knees in preparation. Then the bus was within a few feet of her location and the Lioness burst into an all-out sprint to try to close the gap in the relative velocity between her and the schoolbus. Her arms and legs pumped in furious unison as she accelerated. Every muscle in her body seemed to sing with the exertion. She actually felt as though she were floating. The bus seemed to slow down so that it was moving at a moderate pace and that was when Alanna ran out of land. The Lioness launched herself in a full-body dive towards the bus with all the strength she could muster.

The world seemed to slow down and speed up at the same time as Alanna sailed through the air. Sunlight sparked off the tip of her spear-club as she raised it to a spot above her head. Then the dusty yellow roof of the bus was slamming the breath out of her. The world spun frantically for a second before Alanna stabbed her spear-club down. There was a squeal of punctured metal and then a jarring pain in Alanna's shoulder. She grit her teeth to restrain a howl and raised her opposite hand to grip her anchor in both hands.

"_Are you there, Alpha? Over." _Alanna let go of the spear-club with one hand and promptly bit back a grunt as the muscles in her shoulder protested. _"_Are you there, Alpha!? Over!_"_

Tempest actually sounded worried and Alanna was not fooling herself as to the reasons why. The woman probably just didn't want to be in charge.

"_I'm here... I made it... just don't make too many sharp turns until I get in. Over."_

* * *

"We have all of the supplies we came for," Tempest told Alanna as the Lioness sat on a couch in an abandoned domicile a few miles outside of Grant's Bend. "We were mostly just going to get extra of everything when the kid took off."

Alanna nodded, her face impassive, as Silent rubbed some kind of anti-inflammatory cream into her bruised left shoulder.

"How are the Others doing?"

Tempest shook her head, "The men are still shaken by the deaths of the traitors. The woman is in the early stages of detox and the children are upset about the death of their caretaker."

Alanna chewed her bottom lip in thought while Silent began wrapping the injured shoulder, "Tell them all to get some sleep and that we'll take the first watches. They will need to be fully rested if we are to breakthrough to the enclave. How many pipe bombs did they manage to complete?"

"Ten."

"Do you think you and Silent can complete another twenty before tomorrow?" Tempest nodded slowly, "Good. Do that and I'll stand watch."

Alanna looked closely at Tempest and, for the first time, noticed how exhausted the Myrmidon looked. There were dark circles under her eyes and, despite her endless supply of annoying energy, her back was slightly hunched. All three of them had been operating on four or less hours of sleep a night. That, combined with slaughtering those traitorous Others, had obviously taken its toll. Alanna herself felt more than a little light-headed after her close-call earlier that day. Tempest started a little when Alanna placed a hand on her adopted sister's shoulder.

"I know you are tired, sisters," Alanna spoke softly but knew that Silent's sharp ears would hear her, "I am, too. But we have to stay alert, ready, for we are the only hope these Others have. More than that, Lord Achilles is depending on us for his very survival. I would rather die than prove that faith misplaced, as I know you would, my brave sisters. We will do our duty. For the Myrmidon."

Tempest's eyes were wide and shining as she put a hand on Alann's uninjured shoulder. That hand was quickly joined by Silent's.

"For the Myrmidon," Tempest took her hand away a moment later and quickly stood, "I'm going to tell the Others."

Once Silent was finished wrapping her arm, Alanna went to the front of the one-story home and slowly ascended the ladder to the roof. They were on one of the back roads that climbed up the valley walls, the buses and trucks had managed the debris with little difficulty, and they still had six or so hours of daylight left. A cold front had moved in during the night though and the temperature had dropped very quickly. Her breath was actually misting in the air.

_I'll have to make sure none of the Others sets the domicile on fire,_ Alanna made a mental note as she set up the comm.-equipment.

"_Base this is Alpha-Alpha. Come in. Over."_

This time the response was immediate and it was Achilles, _"This is Lead, Alpha_-_alpha. I read you. Over."_

"_We had to evac early, Lead. Risen from the high school were set free by an Other we missed. One of the Other women fell saving a child. I failed in my duty, Lead. Over."_

"_I will hear none of that, Alpha-alpha. What supplies were you able to obtain? Over."_

"_We procured the two buses as well as two moving vehicles. They are not as full as I would have liked them to be but we managed to add extra of everything on our lists. Just not as much extra as I had hoped thanks to the traitorous machinations of Others. Over."_

"_Then you have not failed in your duty, Alpha-alpha. What time can I expect you tomorrow? Over."_

"_We plan to leave our temporary domicile no more than an hour and a half after sunrise. You will hear us coming, Lead. Over."_

"_Excellent. We will prepare, Alpha-alpha. Is that all? Over."_

"_That is all, Lead. Over."_

"_Then I will see you tomorrow, Alpha-alpha. Base, over and out."_

"_Alpha-alpha, over and out."_

Alanna powered down the comm-equipment and stretched her arms high above her head. It was going to be a long night and a stressful tomorrow but her heart was full of longing for the solid arms of Achilles. She would hold onto that through the cold night and the desperate battle tomorrow. Lioness may have been her moniker but Alanna was still a human being at her core.

So, with a tiny smile of anticipation, Alanna slowly made her way down the ladder.


	19. Chapter 19

"Alanna," the voice was soft but it jolted Alanna from her light sleep.

The Warrior-Hunter blinked quickly to bring her eyes into focus and grimaced at Tempest's exhausted expression.

"You look like I feel, Tempest," Alanna yawned hugely and took the offered mug of coffee that was handed to her.

Tempest barked quiet laughter, "Thanks for telling me I look like warm shit, Alanna."

Silent came into the tiny bedroom with three huge bowls of steaming oatmeal. The three Myrmidons ate quickly, the only sounds produced were those made by women dutifully filling up their fuel stores, and soon rose from their selected sleeping area. All three had slept on the huge bed that took up the majority of the room, in nearly full armor, and they had all paid for it with lingering soreness. But they were young, fit, and becoming increasingly used to enduring physical discomfort. Alanna worked her injured shoulder and was glad to feel only a lingering tightness in the area. She had never been such a fast healer before and it came as a pleasant shock.

"The Others?" Alanna asked as they checked their armor and weapons.

"Lucas followed your orders well, Alanna. The children and women are up. Everyone has eaten and they have finished the last three bombs. All that needs to be done is prepping the lead bus," Tempest actually managing to give Alanna a report without sarcasm almost made the senior Warrior-Hunter gape in wonder.

"Excellent," Alanna finished her inspection and politely waited for her sisters before speaking again, "Shall we?"

They walked out of the small bedroom, all they would take with them was in the hiking packs they carried, and down a narrow hall to a decent-sized living room. The children, all six of them, were huddled together in front of the fireplace as they slept. Linda was sleeping amongst them and the only thing distinguishing her from them was the woman being a few inches taller than the largest boy.

"I thought you said they were awake, Tempest," Alanna turned to the younger Myrmidon with a subtle glare.

Tempest held up her hands, "They were just a few minutes ago. Children and drunks can fall asleep at the drop of a hat, Alanna."

_Yes, I know that quite well._

"Go ahead. I'll wake them," Alanna told her sisters and they left after pounding their fists to their chest. Alanna crouched next to Linda and shook the malodorous woman. "Linda. Wake up. It's time to go." The woman groaned and tried to shake Alanna's hand off. "Linda!" Alanna snapped and growled when the foul Other actually punched Alanna in the arm. "Wake up!"

Alanna grabbed the woman by the back of the neck and pulled her head up by the grip. The woman was awake instantly and scrabbling to remove Alanna's hand from her neck.

"Stand up!" Alanna barked and the sound made a couple of the children start from their slumber. "Are you awake?" Linda grumbled something as Alanna turned her around in order to look into the Other's eyes.. The Warrior-Hunter shifted her grip so the one hand clutched the woman's throat while the other remained on the back of her head. "Wake up!" Alanna roared directly into Linda's face and the Other's pale blue eyes spread wide.

Alanna immediately released Linda and took a step back.

"What the hell are ya doin'?" Linda croaked, her voice was rough and barely louder than a whisper.

"We're leaving. Wake the children up, have them use the bathroom, and meet us outside," Alanna cocked her head and waited until the Other nodded.

The Lioness had to shade her eyes as she stepped out into the front yard of the domicile. The sun was bright despite the chilly nature of the air. The large lawn, overgrown with weeds now, had been thoroughly demolished yesterday by the group's vehicles. They had managed to line the vehicles up in a row that faced the long driveway back to the road. Both of the U-hauls were bracketed by the schoolbuses. The lead bus held all of their extra gear while the U-hauls contained most of the foodstuff as well as some weapons and ammunition. The last bus held the bulk of their weapons, ammunition, and _all_ of the spare gasoline they had been able to fit. Alanna hated the necessity of making the children ride in the lead bus, the one that would be in the most danger of being overrun or exploding from the premature detonation of a pipe bomb, but there was no way they were riding in the bus filled with guns and gasoline.

Lucas came jogging up to her, covered in sweat, dirt, and grease, and waved a greeting.

"Hey, Alanna. Sleep well?" the tall man said in a quiet, friendly voice that was betrayed by the width of his eyes and the clenching of his jaw.

"As well as can be expected," Alanna nodded to where Brian was showing Tempest the top of the lead bus. "Have you finished the modifications to the bus, as well?"

Lucas started in surprise but quickly nodded, "Yeah. We, uh, we did whatcha wrote down for us to do. Everythin's ready ta go."

Alanna strode up to Lucas and reached up to gently pound the side of his shoulder with a small smile, "Well done, Other."

Lucas had flinched the moment Alanna had come within three feet of him and let out a sigh when she went past him. Achilles said that it was good when Others feared them because it would make them hesitate to betray the People. It didn't make Alanna feel any better having anyone, even a man that towered over her, react in such a way to her very presence.

"Lioness!" Tempest called from her perch on the bus, "Everything looks solid up here. We can go at your pleasure."

Alanna grimaced, "Would you kindly not speak to me as though I am some kind of noble asshole?"

Tempest stuck her tongue out with a grin as she stood to go to the ladder at the back of the bus. Brian and Larry walked up to Alanna as though she were a real lioness that they had just watched each a man.

"Good morning, men," Alanna nodded to each in turn, mindful of how the Others seemed to be reacting to the Myrmidons, "Grab something to eat before we go. Don't forget to evacuate your wastes."

The two men made disgusted faces before following Lucas back to the domicile for bowls of lukewarm oatmeal. Alanna went around to the open door of the lead bus and stuffed her pack in the seat behind the driver. You could actually walk down the aisle of this bus and Alanna made one last inspection of the various tools, ammo, and weapons they had. She made sure they were all secure before exiting the vehicle. Linda and the children were lined up in front of the bus with Silent. Alanna took a deep breath, she hated talking to even small groups of people, and turned to face them.

"We are going to a sanctuary today. We will stop only once. When we make that stop, you will have to go to the bathroom then, or wait until we make it into town. Listen to your driver, cover your head when it starts, and all will be well. Now, please board the bus."

Linda and the children quickly boarded the bus without a word. Half of them, including the adult, looked as though they would fall asleep as soon as they boarded the vehicle.

**Sleepy bastards, aren't they?** Silent signed with a grin shadowed by her helmet.

**Others.**Alanna replied with an answering grin.

The men joined them soon and went to their assigned buses while the Myrmidons did a last sweep of the domicile. Once it was deemed clear they all boarded their assigned buses. Lucas was going to be driving the lead vehicle with Alanna as an additional passenger. Brian would drive the U-haul behind the lead bus and Larry would be in the second U-haul. Silent and Tempest would bring up the rear in the last bus.

"_All right, boys,"_ Lucas got on his CB after starting the bus, _"Let's get back ta our loved ones."_

Alanna dozed for the majority of the bumpy ride down secondary roads, starting awake once when Lucas nearly drove them off an embankment, and Lucas was stopping the bus before she knew they were even close. They were still a half a mile from the turn-off and she could hear the moans of the Risen as the mindless beasts made their way towards the sanctuary.

"Everyone!" Alanna called out as the children clambered to the windows to see what was making the noise. "Stay on the bus until I come back for you. Lucas, tell the others not to leave their trucks."

"Yes, ma'am," Lucas raised his CB transmitter to his mouth, _"You boys just sit tight while the Myrmidons take care o' bin'ess."_

Alanna strapped her buckler on before drawing both her melee weapons. The comforting bulk of her M9 rested against her left thigh. She nodded for Lucas to open the door and bolted out as soon as there was enough room. Movement on her left had Alanna pivoting and stabbing in two fluid motions. Her target was taller, at least six feet, and the thrust was at the perfect angle to pierce the soft tissue behind the point of the chin. The entire head of Alanna's spear-club disappeared as she spun the large Risen to the ground and hopped away to gain space. A look to her left let her see that Tempest and Silent were being engaged by several Risen of their own. The road they were on was narrow and there was barely two feet on either side of the bus. It would be a time for linear combat, something Achilles absolutely detested, but the Myrmidon Lord had made sure they had practiced it often enough for the technique to be familiar.

The road fell to either side at a sharp angle for about three feet before it met the forest floor. Five Risen were trotting in their ungainly way towards their position. There was no telling how many of them were coming up on the other side of the bus. Alanna retrieved her spear-club with a savage twisting motion and hopped in place to settle the battle-mind firmly. Then she was smashing the first Risen's head in with the blunt end of her tomahawk.

For the next several minutes, Alanna chopped, stabbed, and smashed her way around the bus. Finally no more targets came within her view and a few seconds later her sister Myrmidons jogged to her side. Both were as covered in gore as the Lioness but the trio was unconcerned.

"It looks clear," Tempest said, her breath coming light and fast, "I don't think anyone should leave the road though."

Alanna nodded, "Agreed." The Lioness marched back up to the lead bus and quickly waved for them to come out. She spoke only when everyone was there, "No one leaves the road. Urinate over the side. You have five minutes."

Alanna took her own advice, undid the snap-crotch of her corset, and squatted to urinate over the edge while her sisters watched. There was a little hesitation, with furtive glances at the men by Linda and the children as well as vice versa, before everyone relieved themselves. Nervousness was probably playing havoc with their bowels too but no one even looked tempted to bare their bottoms long enough for that. Alanna took her place to stand guard as Tempest and Silent took their turns.

"Look!" one of the children shrieked in terror and pointed into the woods.

Alanna's eyes easily settled on a figure shambling forward in a horribly familiar gait. It was then that she became aware that more of the figures were slowly making their way to the road. There were at least twenty in her line of sight and she now had no doubt the woods were saturated with Risen.

"Back on the transports," Alanna growled and snapped when they all just stared at her. "Now!"

The party scrambled back on to their assigned conveyances and they were soon driving ever closer to the main road. Alanna grabbed the CB's transmitter and took a moment to breath before speaking.

"_Once we are within sight of the road I want the vehicles as close to bumper-to-bumper as we can get. Once within the horde of Risen, I want a space of no more than five feet between us, keep your speed at thirty or below. Be careful. I don't want any unfortunate collisions._ _Am I understood?_

"_Roger that, Lioness,"_ Tempest replied and was followed in turn by the two Other drivers.

The side road leveled out maybe a hundred feet from main road and was liberally sprinkled with meandering Risen. Thankfully the horde had not had a reason to bunch together and were spread out over a large area. Five hundred plus Risen covered a lot of road though and they would swarm on the buses as soon as they caught sight of them. Some, the closest to them, were already trotting towards them.

"Hit it, Lucas!" Alanna barked and the bus accelerated quickly.

Risen bounced with sounds that were a sickening combination of squishing and crunching noises that were audible even over the buses engines. Gore splattered up onto the windshield and had to be wiped away. One of the children started crying loudly.

"Keep their heads down, Other!" Alanna barked, the Battle-Mind still firmly entrenched.

The bus turned onto the main road and Alanna stomped to the back of the bus to see how the others were doing. Everyone managed to turn onto the main road in a tight formation and the tightness in Alanna's chest eased slightly.

"Alanna!" Lucas shouted, "Lookit this!"

Alanna stormed back up the aisle, cursing as she watched a thick knot of Risen forming in front of her eyes, and grabbed a pipe bomb from the bag beside the driver's seat. She had known this would be the trickiest part of their plan. The main road rose at a fairly steep angle for a couple hundred feet before gradually leveling out before it came near the town. Trying to get traction on slippery bodies, while fighting against the pull of hundreds of Risen, would be a trial on the vehicles. That was where the pipe bombs came in. Designed for maximum concussion with the limited materials they had access to, the weapons would hopefully open up pockets they could gain some momentum in. There was a square hole cut in the roof for just such an emergency and Alanna propped herself up on the solid bar in front of the dashboard. She had bolted a thick piece of quilt to the back edge of the hole but the metal still dug into her back. Alanna pushed herself up through the hole, braced her feet against the opposite edge, and lit the fuse of her bomb with a grille lighter.

Alanna held the bomb in a classic, over-the-shoulder, throwing position and waited for the fuse to burn about halfway down. Then she launched it and dropped back into the bus. It landed almost fifteen feet away and disappeared into the thick ranks of Risen. Seconds later the pipe bomb detonated, rocking the bus slightly, and scattering Risen in a dozen directions. One, directly beneath the bomb, was propelled at least a dozen feet straight up. Lucas hit the accelerator and the bus lurched forward through the thinner screen of Risen. They made it halfway up the hill before Lucas was forced to stop the bus and put the parking brake on. The bastards had thickened up once again.

Two explosions behind them, to their left and right, was Silent hurling her own bombs to keep the Risen from getting too thick on their sides. There was always the possibility that one of the vehicles would be tipped over. Alanna ascended to the roof of the bus once more and launched another bomb. This one gained them the relative top of the hill and they picked up more speed.

"_Yee-haw! We did it, boys!"_ came the enthusiastic shout from Larry.

"_We are not out of danger yet,"_ Alanna admonished, _"Stay vigilant."_

The Lioness' prediction came true as they discovered that the road was still covered with Risen. It was a thinner crowd than they had just encountered but they did not start to thin until Alanna could actually see the town in the distance. She was afraid they would cause a rockslide if they kept throwing pipe bombs, the walls were a lot closer in this section, but they had no choice. Finally there were only groups of three or less scattered on the road and in the fields.

Alanna hit her shoulder transceiver, _"This is Alpha-Alpha, Lead. Come in. Over."_

"_This is Lead,"_ Achilles came back instantly, _"What is your status? Over."_

"_We are at the two-zero-zero mark now. You should see us. Over."_

"_I see you, Alpha-Alpha. Welcome home. Over and out."_

"_See you soon, Lead. Over and out."_

Achilles had hastily constructed a wide, dirt ramp that led over the earthen barricade in their absence and the quartet of vehicles quickly rode over it. Lucas parked where a small knot of people were waiting, his family among them, and impulsively hugged Alanna before bounding out of the bus. The Lioness let a very Other grin pass her lips before turning to Linda and the children.

"You are safe for the moment children. Come and I will introduce you to Tzu. He will make sure you are fed, bathed, and given quarters. Come."

Two muffled explosions, felt through the bus as much as heard, made them all jump. It was probably Achilles using improvised explosives to destroy the ramp leading over the wall. The oldest child, as usual, took the lead. He stood and grabbed the hand of one of the smallest on his way up. Soon they had all followed suit and Alanna led the procession off the bus. Her feet had not touched the ground for more than a moment before Achilles had swept her up in his arms. The blood and gore covering her did not faze him as he unlatched her faceguard in order to plant an enthusiastic kiss on her lips. Once it ended, a flush Alanna grinned hugely.

"Tsk, tsk, my Lord. Where is your Myrmidon composure?"


	20. Chapter 20

_Journal Entry #25: October 20__th__, 2005_

_I have not written in this journal for nearly two weeks, largely because of a lack of any free time whatsoever, but Achilles has deemed the Initiates and the Others capable of keeping our little stronghold intact so that Silent, Tempest, myself, Alanna and Achilles might enjoy a twenty-four hour period where we are free to relax as much as one can relax with an ever-growing army of Risen surrounding them._

_It has been nearly a week since Alanna, Silent, Tempest and their team made it back from their supply run. The supplies were greeted with much fanfare and there probably would have been a feast if not for the absence of two of the Others that had accompanied Alanna, Silent, and Tempest. One of the wives seemed to care very little that her husband had not come back, she was more upset that there was no beer or liquor among the supplies, while the other wailed as though the entire world was coming to an end. Alanna, in Myrmidon fashion, told the gathered Others exactly what had happened to the men. There was some initial grumbling but, to everyone's surprise, the big man named Lucas spoke up in defense of Alanna's actions. His voice was joined by the remaining two Others and any dissent was quickly squashed._

_The supplies were quickly organized and work was begun to strengthen the fortifications before the first Risen reached the stronghold. The supermarket was also thoroughly cleaned, sanitized, and made much more livable. The Pizza Hut, after being boarded up, was being used to store the majority of the supplies that have little to do with the defense of the stronghold. There is always a guard, either a Myrmidon or one of the Initiates, at the Pizza Hut. While the Others are behaving themselves at the moment, Achilles takes no chances, and I can not blame him._

_A surprising thing, though I should have seen this coming, happened a few days later. Two teenaged boys, tall and in reasonably good shape, came forward to be judged worthy of becoming Initiates. The next day Lucas, with family in tow, did likewise. This is not the first time this has happened in the short history of the People so Achilles had a precedent, but I could see that it shocked him to see Lucas. Tempest and Silent told me how the men had been utterly terrified of them after the first day. It is a resounding implication of the impact a Myrmidon can have on someone's perception of themselves that a man can go from fear to envy to determination so quickly. But maybe it is simpler than that. It might just be that the man wants to make sure his daughter lives and becoming People raises the chances of that occurring._ _What Lucas did not realize was that his wife would have to become an Initiate if he wanted to become People._

_Before anyone who's reading this gets outraged about the child, know that the People are not completely heartless. Children need not take Trials as they are much more easily shaped into People than adults. The only thing a child needs worry about is whether they will become a Warrior-Hunter or an Artisan-Laborer and not even that until they reach the age of eighteen. Though, and Achilles actually laughed when I brought this up, the world might go back to normal by that point. Eventually, over the next three days, the other two members of the supply team, Brian and Larry, came forward to become Initiates._

_Thankfully the motel still has a few empty rooms that are still in sound condition as well as the office._

_So now the list of Warrior-Hunter Initiates consists of my sisters, Lacy and Sara, Luke Brandis, Paul Schaeffer, Brian Foster, and Lucas Quinn. Larry O'Riley, his wife, Lucas' wife, Brian's wife (who's names I can't remember), the alcoholic Other named Linda, and my sisters, Tara and Bethany, make up the Artisan Laborer Initiates. None of the adults are taking it well that my sisters have been put in nominal charge of overseeing their training while the Branded Myrmidons take their leisure. But it was decreed by Lord Achilles and they heed him well._

_The Others, of which my parents are sadly included, have finally shown a willingness to follow Achilles orders without an undue amount of protest. Though it probably has more to do with the fact that dozens of Risen are uselessly trying to crawl up the walls of our stronghold and more appear everyday. What is it about people that make it so hard to be able to have a sense of immediacy without a physical cause in front of them? It is perplexing._

* * *

_Journal Entry # 26 October 30__th__, 2005_

_I'm very tired so I will make this short. A first happened and it was a most wonderful of firsts. Tempest, Silent and I had our first "threesome". Apparently they had been plotting such a thing for quite some time. When they told me that I needed a bath, after they had already taken one, I thought nothing of it. I was particularly malodorous, I thought, and when I returned I nearly forgot to close the door at the sight that greeted me. Tempest and Silent were entangled in an erotic embrace, knees pressed between each others legs, moaning deliciously. They both looked at me with 'come hither' eyes and Tempest, of course, said, "Are you going to stand there, with the door open, or fuck us?"_

_Well, let there be no doubt that I answered that question in the affirmative._

* * *

_Journal Entry #27 November 10__th__, 2005_

_The construction of the defenses is finally complete, rudimentary as they are, and now we turn our attention to preparing our various domiciles for the winter. Hopefully Lucas', and his wife's, feelings that it will be the warmest winter these mountains have ever seen will come true. Otherwise it will be a long winter, ensconced in these tiny motel rooms, huddled together like mice to ward away the cold while inadequate woodstoves are our only source of heat. Though, and I should be ashamed of myself for hoping this, it will not prevent my partners and I from engaging in our favorite form of nighttime recreation._

_The training of the Initiates is going surprisingly well. They have all thrown themselves into it without the slightest hesitation. I believe it is the hero-worship the younger Initiates have with Achilles and the awe the older two seem to feel in the presence of Alanna. I have to admit that I practically burst with pride at being a Myrmidon when I watch the two spar, practice in the battle-circle, or even practice their draw with a variety of firearms._

_In my occasional observations of the still-increasing fitness levels in Silent and Tempest, it seems readily apparent that something has happened to them in the intervening weeks after their Trial By Fire and today. They are noticeably faster, stronger, more agile, and heal faster than should be normal given their levels of nutrition. It is puzzling and the only thing that I could account for this change is their close contact with Risen. Could it be that the virus can be transmitted by respiratory means despite a Risen's inability to breath? Or even blood-to-skin absorption? Maybe the virus, or whatever causes a person to become Risen, is subtly changing the way the Warrior-Hunters bodies work? It would explain how much physically superior they all are to Others with similar phenotypes._

* * *

_Journal Entry #28_ _November 24__th__ 2005_

_Today we celebrated Thanksgiving. Achilles said it would help bolster people's spirits before the long night of hard winter fell upon them and I think he was right. Despite the constant moaning of the Risen surrounding the stronghold, a feast of Pre-End Time proportions was prepared. We ate mashed potatoes, the instant kind you only need water for, corn, biscuits, rice, stuffing. The only thing that was missing was turkey but all the venison we could handle sufficed nicely_.

_My sisters, Silent, Tempest, Tempest's sister, and me all sat with my parents. It was tense at first until Tempest, I'm sure that's no surprise to anyone that may be following these infrequent journal entries, moaned melodramatically and patted a purposefully distended belly before making a comment about bursting like an overripe melon. That got a conversation, tentative at first, going and gradually it allowed my sisters to bask in the reluctant approval of their parents. All of my sisters are showing changes for the better since becoming Initiates. Lacy, who barely can bring herself to look anyone in the eye, actually told me she thought she was a lesbian the other day! They all are starting to walk with a natural, predatory gait that brims with a level of confidence I've never seen in them._

_The only thing that marred the night was Jackie. Tempest's sister seemed determined to sulk like a toddler until Tempest finally snapped and told her to go find her friends' fire, which was as far away from anyone as Achilles would allow and surrounded by raucous celebrating of the kind that was commonly found in gatherings of teenagers before the End Time. Jackie, possessed of a slightly less caustic version of Tempest's temper, shouted back something about how Tempest liked me and Silent, who she referred to as Tempest's "little lezzie-slut", more than her own family anyway. I rose to defend Tempest's honor, only a little slower than Silent, but we were both held back by Tempest's hand rising. She told us to let her foolish sister go to the small number of teenagers that feel as though they don't have to work very hard. Of course, this makes them somewhat resentful that they get the worst sleeping quarters, the last cuts of meat, etc. But, as Tempest once said, "fuck them"._

_Of course no one, besides myself and Silent, knows the_ _real Tempest. The one who cries herself to sleep sometimes because of how much her sister hates her. Because of how she almost got Alanna, who she probably respects more than anyone she's ever known despite the rivalry she has with the woman, killed to save her ungrateful blood. Because of how, in her eyes, the honor that she so painstakingly built up within herself was tarnished by her vow that her sister would make a fine Myrmidon. I do not know what secrets, fears, and rages Alanna and Achilles share but I do know that, though Myrmidons may put on a public face of Zen detachment, within each of us is a carefully guarded heart that is just as easily bruised, cut, and shattered as any Others._

* * *

_Journal Entry # 30 December 10__th__, 2005_

_Besides the constant din of the encroaching Risen hordes, this is not so bad a life to have. My days are spent training the Artisan-Laborer Initiates with Silent while Tempest and Alanna put the Warrior-Hunter Initiate through their paces. If the Initiates are having a rest day then I supervise the various projects being undertaken by the Others. My nights are spent sandwiched between Silent and Tempest since Achilles and Alanna have permanently taken over the night-watch._

_The temperature has dropped, but so far it seems to be hovering around the mid-forties. Much higher than it's supposed to be at this time of year, I think, but there is hope that the temperature won't drop so low that we all freeze to death but low enough to slow the Risen even further to allow us to walk out of here. Though, if the rock faces become too icy, climbing out may prove difficult._

_But, again, this is not so bad a life._

* * *

Alanna stood on top of the wall, flatter and wider than before, with her semi-automatic shotgun slung across her back as she looked out across a sea of Risen. It was a clear, cold day and she could see the end of the horde nearly half a mile away. The horde was thick though, their ranks tight almost the entire length of the wall, and a person would need a tank to even think about getting through. Thankfully that was not her mission today.

Today they were Risen-fishing.

The concept was mind-boggling but necessary if the Initiates were going to pass their Trial By Fire. Achilles and Tzu, in the center of one of the circular firing platforms they had built, were pulling in a third Risen they had managed to lasso around the ankle. Their target mindlessly moaned as they dragged him across the piled Risen bodies in the ditch before the start of the sharply sloped wall. Alanna was there, hunting rifle in hand, to pick off any Risen that made a grab for the rope. Silent, along with the Warrior-Hunter Initiates, were keeping an eye on the two Risen that had already been dumped into a seven-foot deep fighting pit the Artisan-Laborer Initiates had dug for the express purpose of the Trials. Tempest was in command of this side of the wall today while Sarah Denton was in command of the opposite. The young woman had showed an impressive command ability despite her status as an Initiate and had practically quivered with joy when Achilles had given her the duty.

Alanna shivered as a wintery breeze blew down the valley, bringing with it the muted scent of Risen decay, and clutched her fur-lined cloak around her. She would have preferred a parka of the modern variety but these Artisan-Laborer designed ones could be discarded much more quickly. Achilles and Tzu didn't seem to notice as they struggled to pull the Risen to them. Both of the men were garbed in Warrior-Hunter armor, Tzu's rigid sections were composed of bones taken from a variety of animals and Risen, and had removed their winter cloaks shortly after beginning. The Others that were watching, from a healthy distance of course, seemed impressed at the strength of the small men.

_Though neither are as weak as these Others seem to think from their size._ _And if they only knew what Tempest, Silent, and I know then they probably wouldn't call them small._

Laughter, the bellowing kind that was the only sort one could hear over the low moan of the hundreds of Risen before them, came to Alanna faintly from the a spot nearly three hundred meters down the wall. The Lioness turned and was not surprised to find Tempest's sister surrounded by her constant companions. It was a small group, maybe half a dozen, of older teenagers that were probably the most obstinate of the Others. They balked at even the least strenuous choirs, she vaguely remembered walking in on two of them shirking their duties at Tempest's former domicile, and it was only with the self-discipline she had learned at Achilles hands that kept Alanna from throttling the bratty Others to death.

The Warrrior-Hunter turned back to her duty as Achilles and Tzu finally gotten their Risen up to 'battlement' level. It immediately sat up, emaciated breasts a sickly purple in the afternoon light, and lunged at the two men. Without a word spoken, the two Myrmidon moved in concert to back down the gradual slope, dragging the Risen behind them, and their prey could only flail wildly as it was dragged with blistering speed towards the fighting pit. The distance was short and soon they slowed to a stop. When the Risen sat up this time, Silent was behind it and hooked her arms beneath the Risen's armpits. The Myrmidon woman locked her hands behind the Risen's head and lifted the creature to its feet. Of course the Risen kicked wildly, teeth gnashing furiously, as she was carried bodily to the edge of the pit and unceremoniously tossed in. The end of the rope was tied to a stake planted by the edge of the pit and that ended their fishing expedition.

Wild shrieks of laughter were carried on the breeze and Alanna turned with a scowl towards Jackie and her friends. Now the group of teenagers were imitating the Myrmidons with a length of rope that looked far too short. Jackie was precariously close to one of the gaps in the waist-high earthen wall they had built on top of the battlements. Tempest was striding from the opposite direction, anger open on her face despite the shadows cast by her helmet, and Alanna smirked to herself to see what the outcome would be. Silent joined Alanna atop the wall and the two Myrmidon waited to see what Tempest would do.

Disaster struck then and Alanna was surprised that she felt not a twinge of compassion when it did. The boy behind Jackie, as a joke or just to be mean, let his rope go and bellowed laughter at the girl's terrified shriek. There was a single adult Other stationed at that firing platform, who had been steadfastly ignoring the antics of the teenager, let loose his own roar as Jackie hit the wall hard and went tumbling over. Alanna shook her head as the girl tumbled down the wall and hit one of the only little circles of clear dirt in the ditch that had been slowly filled with Risen as the Others practiced their shooting on the encroaching horde. It would not remain clear for long as the movement was noticed immediately and over a dozen Risen moved with surprising speed for the dazed figure.

_Tempest may be upset, but maybe it's for the best. If only we could arrange accidents for all of the troublesome Others._

Then another thing that shocked Alanna happened. This time it was because of the cold twist of dread that squeezed her heart when Tempest shoved the rope into the Other's hand, grabbed the opposite end, and jumped over the wall after her sister.

"Fuck!" Alanna shouted, "Achilles!"

Alanna went to one knee, brought the scope up to her eye, and blew the brains out of the largest Risen making its way down into the ditch. Achilles was at her side in seconds and Alanna didn't need to see to know that Silent was sprinting towards the other firing platform.

"Jackie fell, Tempest went in after her, they're," Alanna fired again, downing one of the faster Risen, "-about to be overrun."

It was amazing how calm her voice sounded when her heart was beating so hard she thought it would escape her chest.

"Tzu, take the rifle!" Achilles snapped, and Alanna looked up to see that Tzu was several steps into chasing Silent. "Do it! We'll get her!"

Alanna tossed Tzu the rifle and the Myrmidon squeezed the grip in white-knuckled hands before nodding. The Artisan-Laborer threw himself prone and began firing at a much faster pace than Alanna. Alanna tossed her ammo pouch down to him and sprinted after Achilles. Tempest had reached her sister and was pushing the rope into her hands. She was yelling into the petrified teenager's face and finally Jackie started up the slope. Tempest was pushing the girl up with two ungentle hands on her rear. Silent reached the Other and snatched the rope from his straining hands. She pushed him away and gestured at the cowering teenagers that had helped bring about the situation. Then Silent began pulling Jackie up the slope with smooth, economic motions. Tempest started climbing by using spear-club and tomahawk.

"No!" Alanna huffed and willed her legs to greater speed when a huge Risen seemed to spring from nowhere to fasten a purple-mottled hand on Tempest's ankle.

The Risen lunged forward to bite into her armored calf. Tempest looked back and kicked it's head with her opposite foot. Then she stopped moving and nodded at the Risen. A single shot seemed to come from the heavens and the crown of the Risen's head exploded in a shower of partially coagulated gore. Tempest turned to resume her climb when a Risen leapt the six-foot ditch to land squarely on Tempest's back. It pulled back with unbridled ferocity and not even the strength of a Warrior-Hunter was enough to hold on.

Tempest fell backwards into the waiting arms of over a dozen Risen, with more hurling themselves into the fray every moment, and something in Alanna's gut twisted horribly. A hoarse shout, almost a moan, came from the firing circle ahead of them where Jackie was being helped past the gap by Silent. Silent threw the girl behind her, drew tomahawk and spear-club, and propelled herself into the air. The Myrmidon crashed into the group of Risen but popped back up unlike Tempest, who had seemingly disappeared. It was a desperate press of bodies, Silent had her back pressed against the nearly vertical slope as she fought desperately to reach the spot that Tempest had fallen into. Then Tempest's head appeared as she stabbed and slashed with her trophy extractor with wild abandon. The press was too much though and she once again disappeared beneath the press of bodies on the opposite side of the ditch from Tempest.

Alanna removed her shotgun, let it fall, and drew her weapons as Achilles jumped over the wall. A banshee shout, part rage, part fear for Tempest's life, issued from Alanna's mouth as she followed her love to her possible death. Achilles' slid down the slope on his back and stopped himself with two boots to the top of a Risen's skull. His tomahawk lashed out and smashed the back of a Risen's head in as the creature was barely being held back by Tempest. Alanna pushed off the wall with both feet, sailed over Achilles head, and shoulder-blocked a Risen back into several others.

Alanna felt no pain, no fear; there was only life. There was only the battle.

The three Myrmidon moved as one, each falling deeply into the battle-mind, their bodies falling into the rhythms painstakingly learned in the battle-circles. They covered each other's blindspots, crossed each others paths with only inches to spare, stabbed, smashed, and killed a bloody swathe through all before them. Gunfire reached a crescendo and the numbers of Risen pouring into the ditch slackened. Finally they reached the spot where Tempest had disappeared, hacking and stabbing at the backs of the kneeling Risen, to reveal their sister.

Blood covered every inch of Tempest, some of it the thick blood of Risen, but most of it the shockingly bright blood of the living. She fought, even so grievously wounded, her sidearm clicking empty as she tried to keep firing. Tempest's struggled even when they removed the three Risen bodies that she had managed to shoot before being overwhelmed. Silent wrapped her arms around Tempest's chest, her biceps beneath the injured Myrmidon's arms, and started dragging Tempest back through the charnel house the trio had created.

The press of Risen above them was too great for the rifles being brought to bear and Risen started dropping into the ditch once again. Alanna and Achilles fought them off easily but they knew there would be more.

"Silent!" Tzu called but Alanna knew better than to take her eyes away from the Risen charging towards her.

Her breath came easily enough and her limbs seemed to just be limbering up but Alanna knew it was only a matter of time before there would be too many for even Achilles to overcome in such a tight space.

"Achilles!"

The boom of a semi-automatic shotgun was music, albeit painful music, to Alanna's ears.

"The ropes!" Achilles roared to be heard over the moans of the Risen and his shotgun.

Alanna turned and saw that there were two ropes with big loops at their ends waiting for them. She put one over Achilles head and around his torso before doing the same to herself. She turned, drawing her sidearm, and was hauled up the slope with dizzying speed. Alanna fired several times, trying to keep the Risen away from Achilles, and then there was no need because the Myrmidon Lord was being hauled up the slope. When they were on their feet atop the wall, Alanna's eyes searched with sadness for Tempest's body. There was little doubt that she had been bitten and there was only one fate in store for her.

"Where is Tempest?" Achilles asked Tzu.

Tzu turned, tears rolling down his face, and pointed at a trail of blood that led back towards the town. Achilles, accompanied by Alanna, Tzu, and half of the Others stationed on the wall, followed the trail to where a helmetless Silent was still dragging Tempest. Silent's blue eyes were red, puffy, and releasing a flood of tears. Her face was a mess, mucus flowing freely from her nose, and swollen from crying. Tempest had finally gone limp, slipping into the mercy of unconsciousness, and had lost her helmet sometime in the battle. A bite mark was clearly visible on one cheek, not very deep, but ugly enough for that. There also seemed to be another one on her naked shoulder, the pad and underarmor torn away, and another on her shin where the guard had been pulled off. Silent looked up as they approached, pain and fury in her eyes, and held up her sidearm.

"Silent, no," Tzu said, holding his hands up as he walked to her, "You know what has to happen now."

A curious crowd of Others gathered behind them as Silent jabbed her sidearm at Tzu.

"No," the word emerged in a hoarse croak from Silent's mouth, "No!"

Silent's shoulders hitched as she began to sob, her free hand cradling Tempest's head, the gun shaking in her grasp. The fact that Silent could speak could not overcome the icy pit that Alanna's stomach had become.

"I know, Silent, I know," Tzu had knelt before Silent and gently taken the pistol from her. He hugged her to him and held her tightly as she cried into his shoulder. "We are Myrmidon. We do what we must. Always."

"Yes," again the voice was harsh, guttural, and full of emotions that were entirely unbecoming for a Myrmidon but exactly appropriate for the situation.

"Leann?" Jackie's voice came from behind Alanna and, before either Achilles or Alanna could stop her, the girl was running towards Tempest's prone body with a shriek, "_Leann_!"

Silent was on her feet in an instant and the backhand swept Jackie off her feet. Alanna had not even seen Silent move the ten feet to intercept Jackie. Silent was on top of Jackie, hands locked around the girls throat, and screaming into her face. Long streamers of spit, tears, and blood from where Silent had bitten her own lip dripped into the girls quickly purpling face as Silent started to choke the life from her.

"Let her go, bitch!" a voice cracked in alarm and a shape made the mistake of walking past Alanna.

The Lioness had her helmet off and cracking into the kid's face in a blur of motion. She had a moment's satisfaction at the sound of his nose shattering. It was his foolishness that had resulted in the situation and if he only knew the fate that awaited him then he probably wouldn't have exposed himself so readily. She watched dispassionately as a stone-faced Achilles grabbed the sputtering boy by the throat and hauled him to his feet. The kid was taller than Achilles by several inches but made no move to resist as blood gushed from his mouth and nose.

"She's awake!" Tzu's startled cry made Silent instantly abandon Jackie and return to Tempest's side.

"Hold him," Achilles told Lucas, passing the semi-conscious teenager to the big Initiate.

Alanna fixed Lucas with a stern glance, probably made all the more intimidating by her mask of blood, and followed Achilles.

Tempest's eyes were focused and sharp as the two of them joined in the kneeling circle around her. She grinned, her teeth a macabre crimson, and grunted against the pain.

"Looks like I won't be meeting the rest of the People, huh?" Tempest joked in a hoarse, pain-wracked voice, "Tzu, Silent. I love you. Always remember that. Achilles, thanks for giving me a chance. Thank you for rescuing my sister." Tempest turned to Alanna and surprised the Lioness by reaching out for her hand, "I respect you so much, Alanna. I wanted to be just like you. Please remember that."

"I will, Tempest," Alanna covered Tempest's hand with her own, "No one will ever forget you or your deeds. So long as I live. I swear it."

"I only ask one thing, as is my right," Tempest trembled then, black veins visible in the whites of her eyes when she opened them, "Do not take vengeance upon my sister or her friends."

"I love you," Silent whispered, bending close and kissing Tempest's forehead before whispering into the dying woman's ear.

"I love you. I always have," Tzu said, his eyes as red as Silent's.

Tears ran tracks down Achilles blood-splattered face as he nodded gravely, "There will be no punishment given. Can you walk, Tempest?"

Tempest nodded, "Let me see my sister first."

The four of them stood and Achilles gestured for Jackie to come forward. With a hateful glance at Silent, a coughing, sobbing Jackie dropped to her knees in front of Tempest. The Myrmidon stepped back and let the two have a moment.

"Myrmidon! Form honorguard!" Achilles bellowed.

Alanna and Silent faced off a few feet in front of Achilles with a space of five feet between them. Tzu took his place besides Silent and Tara took her place to Alanna's right. In this manner the Myrmidon formed a living corridor between Achilles and Tempest. Tempest, with a nearly hysterical Jackie's help, stood shakily to her feet. Tempest pushed Jackie away and straightened her spine. She took one unsteady step and then another. Soon she was past where Lucas and his wife faced off and making her way to Achilles.

"Behold the honored final walk of Tempest of the Myrmidon!" Achilles projected his voice in a manner than made it far richer than it normally was, "Behold the boldness of spirit; lay witness to the courageous heart! Let all who would ask know that you bore witness to this final act of sacrifice and honor by a noble Warrior-Hunter."

Alanna kept her eyes locked on Silent's, tears flowing uncontrollably from both their eyes, as Tempest painstakingly walked by them and fell to her knees at Achilles feet.

"Behold the passing of Tempest of the Myrmidon into the next life! Remember this moment! Always!"

There was a single gunshot, Achilles sidearm, and gore splattered the ground in front of Alanna. She thought that Silent's knees would buckle for a moment but the woman showed her mettle and remained on her feet.

"Thus passes Tempest of the Myrmidon! Honorguard... salute!"

Alanna pounded her fist to her chest, the tears blurring her vision so that she could not see anything around her, and screamed, "Tempest!"

Silent screamed hoarsely, "Tempest!"

Soon the entire line was pounding their chests in unison and shouting the fallen Myrmidon's name.

It was a clear, cold, terrible day.

* * *

Alanna stood with her fellow Myrmidons in front of Tempest's grave. It was a simple affair, a cross with her name carved into it and the dates of her lifespan, and Alanna thought it fitting. Tzu and Silent held each other for comfort. Their grief was almost a physical sensation and it hurt Alanna's heart to look at them for too long.

"Excuse me, Lord Achilles," the quiet Initiate, Brian, called to them. "Everyone wants to become Initiates and they wanted me to ask about it."

Achilles didn't turn, his grip on Alanna's hand tightening for an instant, "Why now?"

"Well, way they explained it to me, they thought you wouldn't let too many people be Initiates since then you wouldn't have no one to order around and beat up on. After what happened earlier, well, they see now that you're not just spoutin' a bunch of bullshit when it comes to those rules. They see how you apply it to everyone. Even the people you love. So, yeah."

Alanna turned and gasped in shock at the sight of over twenty people standing naked in the nearly freezing temperatures. The rest of the Myrmidons turned and watched impassively for a moment. Jackie came forward, her face swollen from Silent's mistreatment, and kneeled.

"Please, Lord Achilles. I want to make it right," Jackie said, her voice scratchy, tears still flowing down her face.

Behind her the rest of the Others knelt and bowed their heads.

Achilles looked up at the sky, eyes closed before placing a hand on Jackie's shoulder, "Stand up! Everyone stand up!" Once they stood, Achilles let Jackie go, and nodded, "Tomorrow, we begin, and before this winter is over every single Risen here will be dead."

Alanna grinned wildly as Achilles roared, "This I swear!"

_It's going to be a long winter._

* * *

_A/N: This chapter was probably the hardest chapter I've written to date. It's funny. I never really liked Tempest/Leann as a character or a person. And yet, somehow, she became my favorite despite not getting very much dialogue or characterization. I think it's because her journey, as seen through several pairs of eyes, is the most striking in terms of dichotomy. So, she kind of latched onto my heart, and it was a difficult thing writing that. Especially when I have little movie-reels playing in my head before I commit to paper. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, and I'll probably be posting the epilogue in a few days for anyone still paying attention. Thanks for reading._


	21. Epilogue

Shaka stood fifteen feet above the ground on solid, wooden ramparts and scowled fiercely at the foul Risen moaning below. His mood was not made better by the itchy material of his new armor. The stuff was made of leather and linen. It was cooler than the old but it itched much more. He was starting to think he was allergic.

"How many groups of Risen have we destroyed for them this month, Shaka?" Alexander inquired mildly from his left.

Shaka turned to the huge, disgustingly handsome, blonde. Alexander's pale blue eyes twinkled in bemusement as Shaka spit out of the side of his mouth over the wall. Alexander seemed to be taking to the new armor, done in shades of dull brown and gray's, very well. It only made Shaka more irritated.

"Five!" Shaka bit the word out, "And my scouts tell me there's another three hundred that will be upon us in five days. I told those fucking Others that we need to be more proactive about these Risen, but do they heed me. No! We lost three Warrior-Hunters last time and nearly lost an entire squad of Artisan-Laborers when that piece of shit gate malfunctioned! We need to have another meeting and this time I'm putting my vote in to quit this place come spring."

Alexander nodded, his eyes serious now, "I am glad you have finally started to see reason, brother. These Others are not worthy of our sacrifice. We'll find a place for the Aiel free of Others. You'll see."

Shaka turned and looked out over the fog-shrouded town that the Aiel, he still found the new name for The People somewhat ridiculous even after six months, had been inhabiting since early spring. The church steeple on the north end of town rose above it all in dramatic fashion. Most of the buildings were single-storied, with the occasional two- or three-storied structure rising above. The population had been, reportedly, less than a thousand people before the arrival of the Aiel. When the Aiel had arrived they had numbered nearly six hundred and that number had fluctuated a little with deaths and births. It should have been a strain on the town's resources but the Aiel had become very adept at providing for themselves and these Others had seen the immediate benefit in having a resident fighting force that could also help them scavenge. The problem was, as Shaka had just vented about to Alexander, that the Aiel were taking more and more risks with far too little input into what those risks would entail. It was an unpalatable situation to be at the seeming beck and call of Others.

"Fuck!" Shaka ran his palms over his recently shaved head, "Is it bad that I wish, more and more everyday, that Achilles was here?"

Alexander boomed laughter, "Not really. Considering that all of us that remember Achilles wish that."

"I miss the way he used to just run right over Others and he didn't have to shout. He'd just tell them straight up, without raising his voice, and they'd give in. Heh. You remember that time with that stubborn bitch in Delaware?"

"Yeah. She's called Athena now, Shaka," Alexander joined him in laughter.

"What's so funny?" the lightly accented voice of Leonidas brought their attention to their left.

A broad-shouldered figure, dark brown eyes accented with eyeliner, strode to them flanked by a trio of Immortals in their blue-black body armor. The three Immortals seamlessly joined the six that were protecting Alexander and Shaka to form a wall of silent menace to anyone with hostile intent. The Leaders were lightly armed with tomahawk, spear-club, varied sidearms, and trophy-extractors. Each Immortal was a walking armory of weapons ranging from assault rifles to an actual police-issue net-launcher in addition to their Warrior-Hunter spear-club and riot-shield. The big Hispanic man leaned back against the three-foot high crenelation and waited for an answer.

"We were just reminiscing about Achilles," Shaka said and smiled at Leonidas' grin.

"I should have known," the man that had founded the Spartan society of Warrior-Hunters was widely hailed as the greatest fighter by the newer Aiel, but the older ones, especially Xena since Leonidas could not defeat _her_ in contests of sheer weapons-skill, vehemently defended Achilles position as the deadliest Warrior-Hunter the Aiel had yet known. "I would have liked to meet your Achilles but I think that even you must accept the fact that he is gone from this world. How long has it been? Two winters?"

Shaka shrugged, "I'll give him another year to catch up. If I know Achilles, he's probably got himself into all kinds of crazy shit."

Shaka's radio crackled to life, _"Lord Shaka! There is an important message for you in the communications shack! Over!"_

Shaka hit the transmit button on his shoulder transceiver, _"I will be there shortly, over and out."_ He looked at Alexander and Leonidas, "Care to join me?"

Alexander shrugged, Leonidas nodded, and Shaka hurried along the wall. Five firing platforms to the west was a small building that had been incorporated into the wall itself. Shaka passed through the doorway into the communications shack and immediately went to the long table set against the interior wall. An Artisan-Laborer, he could not remember her name, manned the communication equipment. Shaka sat in one of the office chairs next to the Artisan-Laborer and grabbed a spare microphone.

"Here's the message, my Lord," Shaka resisted the urge to sigh at the young girl's use of the title. It was annoying but something none of the Leaders had been able to stop it.

Shaka took the ledger and read the short-hand message.

**A lost brother seeks sanctuary. Wishes to confirm welcome with Shaka.**

A wide grin spread across Shaka's face. There was only one Warrior-Hunter that would use that sort of wording. He handed the message to Alexander and the big man shook with laughter.

"What is it?" Leonidas asked, his brow furrowed.

Alexander grinned, "Right now we have only suspicions. Be a little patient, Leonidas."

"Is the person that delivered the message still on the line?" Shaka asked eagerly and grinned again when the Artisan-Laborer nodded. The girl's huge, brown eyes were studying Shaka and Alexander curiously. Shaka pressed the transmit button on the mic, _"This is Shaka, Zulu Lord. Who asks for entrance into this town under Aiel protection? Over."_

There was a pause of a minute before a voice, soft and melodious, came through, _"This is Tzu, Prime Artisan-Laborer of the Myrmidons. Is this town not under the protection of The People? Over."_

Shaka chuckled softly, _"The People decided that we needed a more defined cultural identity. Now we are all Aiel. Over."_

There was another moment of silence before an answer came, _"Then Lord Achilles asks that his Myrmidons be granted permission to rejoin the Aiel. Over."_

Shaka stood up from his chair and let out bellowing laughter. He turned to Alexander and the two hugged each other roughly. They clapped each other's back soundly and grinned wildly into each other's faces. Leonidas and the Artisan-Laborer watched the two Lords of the Aiel in bewilderment at this uncharacteristic display.

Shaka sat back down after and quickly reached for the microphone, _"Permission granted, Tzu. Tell Lord Achilles that once we clear out this pack of Risen, the Myrmidons are free to enter at their leisure. Over._"

There was a quiet chuckle from Tzu, _"Do not worry about the Risen that have you currently besieged, or the pack of four hundred plus five days distant, for the Myrmidon have eliminated that threat. Shortly, those at your gate will be given unto the Second Death. Over."_

Behind Shaka, Alexander muttered, "Well, this Tzu surely talks like Achilles."

"_Roger that. We will be looking forward to greeting our lost brother with open arms. Over and out."_ Shaka turned off the microphone and rested a hand on the shoulder of the Artisan-Laborer briefly as he rose. He changed his personal radio to the command frequency and hit the transmit button on his transceiver, _"Xerxes! We have incoming friendlies! I want a full platoon of Immortals ready to provide point-to-point escort of Artisan-Laborers at the west gate in five minutes. Roger that? Over."_

"_I read you, Shaka. They'll be there. Over."_

"_Roger that. Over and out."_

Leonidas was speaking in a low-voiced growl into his own transceiver, ordering a small phalanx formed up to provide a shock troop for the Immortals, when they became aware of a noise like thunder vibrating through the air. When they stepped back into the foggy morning, the chanting roar being produced by a multitude of voices flowed over the wall from the dense stand of trees nearly half a mile away from the wall. The fog was too thick to see that far really, but Risen did not need to be able to see their prey to find them. As always, those Risen at the back of the horde were the first to turn and lead the charge. Shortly after that first wave disappeared, the bulk of the horde turned as though they were a single organism.

Then something that had become increasingly disturbing occurred. Instead of rushing headlong at their prey, the Risen actually moved as though they were a monstrously huge pack of wolves. The faster ones were out front and on the flanks while the slower, more injured were left to form the bulk of the slow-moving horde.

"Fuck. They seem to be getting smarter every week! At this rate, they'll be up to the intelligence level of Others!" the dark humor was not lost on either Warrior-Hunter and humorless laughs were the response.

The leading edge, now composed of the faster Risen, disappeared into the mist while the chant reached a crescendo and then abruptly cut off. There was only the ever-present moans of Risen to listen to with undivided attention until the mist was cut through with flame and a thunderous report rumbled across the relatively flat expanse between forest and town. A warm wind started to blow, the sun making its presence known with shafts of golden light, and the fog began to clear as the muffled sound of a multitude of guns being fired rose above the moans of the Risen. The majority of the main body of Risen, probably numbering over two hundred, made their shambling way towards the trees in their usual undaunted manner. Shaka watched in amusement as the fog became a true mist to reveal the fallen forms of over a hundred Risen. Some of them were still moving, albeit in more than one piece, but the vast majority had been felled before they had even reached the tree line.

"Well, that's impressive," Leonidas actually sounded impressed and that was no easy thing to do. The man was as legendary for his gruff aloofness as well as his prowess in the arts of war in this new world.

Figures, of all shapes and sizes, shrouded by the mist, came striding from the forest in an even line that stretched across a front nearly fifty meters long. It was hard to tell but he thought there were less than a hundred.

"There can't be more than seventy-five of them," Alexander said, his eyes were like a hawk, and grinned, "Poor odds for the Risen if they were all truly trained by Achilles."

"They're not even in any kind of formation," Leonidas' voice was vaguely disapproving and disappointed.

"We'll know if these warriors are truly Achilles'," Shaka removed a pair of binoculars from his kit and held them to his eyes. He sometimes forgot how much equipment he was able to carry now that he no longer had to worry about weight restrictions. He watched as the figures, garbed in the old-fashioned Warrior-Hunter armor made out of whatever materials were readily available, drew spear-club and tomahawk. Then they began to hop and Shaka laughed, the sound glad for the first time in many months, "Yes. They are Achilles'. Watch and learn, Leonidas. I think Achilles will be easy to spot even amongst these Myrmidons."

Leonidas grunted, probably peering through his own set of binoculars at the unfolding scene before them, "We shall see, Shaka."

The Myrmidons spread their line further apart so that it was now obvious they were working in teams of two. It was an odd formation to Shaka's eyes after having gotten used to seeing the Spartan phalanx that had proven so effective in open-field engagements. The sun glinted off the spearheads of several of the Myrmidons and, almost simultaneously, they lowered them so that the point was aimed at the approaching mass of Risen. Then, again Shaka was struck at the synchronicity of these Warrior-Hunters movements, the entire line surged forward. It was as though they floated on air and then they were stabbing into the loosely-packed mass of Risen. All sight of the Warrior-Hunters was lost as the Risen stopped their shambling charge, almost as if the creatures were confused, and started clustering tighter together in an obvious attempt to get at the living flesh that had delivered itself into their midst.

"Well, I've learned much from this," Shaka actually laughed at Leonidas' tone, "Why do you laugh?"

"Look," Shaka said, and watched as the holes he had noticed in the Risen ranks seemed to swell with the regularity of a beating heart.

Each of the holes in the Risen formation were scenes of furious motion that was almost too fast to follow. Shapes moved, reached, slashed, stabbed, bashed, and tossed with such frenetic energy is was almost impossible to believe that human beings were capable of reaching such levels of skill. Shaka watched as two of the Warrior-Hunters crushed a thin Risen female between the circular shields they wore across their backs. One of them whirled and stabbed the falling Risen through the eyesocket with almost robotic precision while the other Warrior-Hunter leapt over their crouching partner to stab a snarling Risen directly in the mouth. Then the two were back on their feet, whirling in the little circle they had created in the midst of hungry Risen, and congealed blood began to fall like some dreadful precipitation dreamed up by a mad god.

There was one hole that swelled even faster than all the others, so much that it actually overlapped one or two, and this one seemed to be the deepest in the Risen horde. The figures inside of it moved with such startling speed, power, precision, and synchronicity that it was like watching some macabre dance between the two. Back and forth they moved inside their circle as Risen futilely entered in an attempt to devour them. The pair were always on the offensive, never defending, every step either an attack or the prelude to one. One of them, slimmer than the other but slightly larger around the hips, seemed to have eyes in the back of their head. A Risen tried to come at the back of their neck, towering over the Warrior-Hunter by almost a foot, only to find that the woman was no longer exactly where she had been. Shaka whistled as an arm whipped back to stab a spear-club up through the chin for the entire length of its head. The left knee rose and thrust backward to propel the Risen off its twitching feet. Before the Myrmidon landed, the round shield was in their now empty spear-club hand and was promptly hurled at where the second Warrior-Hunter was surrounded by an ever–growing crowd of Risen. The shield flew true and the sharp edge sank deeply into a Risen's lower back. Shaka couldn't believe his eyes as a previously hidden Runner sprinted towards the small Warrior-Hunter's back.

It occurred to him that few of the Myrmidons seemed to be very big but the last six months had seen most of the Aiel Warrior-Hunter societies make vast gains in weight and muscle.

The thought was errant and served to increase his awe as the insanely skilled fighter ducked only to rise in an over-the-shoulder toss that had the Runner rising ridiculously high in the air. With a small leap the Warrior-Hunter was wrenching the spear-club out of the still Risen and, their legs still extended from the previous leap, hurled themselves at the falling Risen. Shaka couldn't be sure, but he thought that the extended foot caught the Risen flush in the temple. Wherever the blow had landed, the Risen fell to the ground and promptly began convulsing wildly, while the Warrior-Hunter fell upon the Risen trying to overwhelm their partner with wild abandon.

The trio atop the wall watched the systematic, almost beautiful, destruction of the Risen horde for nearly twenty-five minutes. When the last Risen had fallen to the ground there was a momentary pause as the Myrmidons gave the area a once over. Some of the Risen on the ground were still a threat but as soon as a ululating victory cry started emanated from the Warrior-Hunters throats there came over two dozen Artisan-Laborers from the woods. They were easy to tell apart from the Warrior-Hunters because they all came armed with shotguns, hunting rifles, and sidearms. Isolated gunfire added a sharp counterpoint to the chant of 'Lioness' that was emanating from the Myrmidon Warrior-Hunters.

"Well, let's go welcome our brother home, Alexander, Leonidas" Shaka said, clapping Alexander on the shoulder. "Did you contact Xena, Alexander?"

Alexander nodded, "Athena too. She got back last night."

Shaka led the way to a portion of wall near the gate and down the rough-cut wooden stairs. Xena and Athena waited for them at the bottom of the stairs. They should have looked out of place since they were dressed in long coats over the underarmor they had probably worn to bed, but they both carried themselves as though they were arrayed in full battle array. Both of them looked tired but brimmed with excited energy at the thought of Achilles' return. Athena had let her thick, brown hair grow out to a few inches and now Alexander was not the only one teased about having hair like an Other. Xena's nearly ebony hair was still closely-cropped but Shaka thought she was thinking of letting it grow a little too now that the Aiel were more secure in their situation. The two women turned their eyes, both dark and shining, on him impatiently.

Xerxes had opted to lead this platoon of Immortals, the stocky Canadian turned cold blue eyes on Shaka and nodded to confirm his team's readiness. The Immortals, clad in contemporary SWAT-gear, stood with a professional detachment that had Shaka brimming with pride. It was his Guard that had formed the basis for The Immortals, eventually the two groups had merged when Shaka began really pushing to develop long-range scouts out of volunteer Warrior-Hunters, and Xerxes _was_ his former protégé.

"Spartans," Leonidas spoke to the fifteen-men he had called up to form a reserve phalanx in case the Myrmidons had run into trouble, "Return to your pursuits. No Spartan blood need be spilled today."

"Yes, my lord," the phalanx-commander bowed his head briefly and turned to his Warrior-Hunters, "Back to the barracks!"

The gate was not as impressive as the walls, barely large enough for a semi-trailer to drive through, but it was solidly constructed. They waited for the gate to swing outward before filing into the cinderblock-lined 'killing yard' as the Others liked to call the long, narrow antechamber. The inner gate swung shut and Others on the scaffolding lining the walls turned cranks to open the outer gate.

The group stepped out into a scene reminiscent of a Mad Max movie. Dozens and dozens of people were streaming out of the woodlands. Most of them seemed to be garbed like Artisan-Laborers but a surprising number were Warrior-Hunters. All of them wore ragged-looking armor and clothing. Some were obviously wounded, limping proudly through the debris of mortal combat, while others just walked with a bone-weary gait. A small group of Warrior-Hunters approached them, maybe eight in all, including one with a lion on their bloody chest armor. The two groups stopped about fifteen feet apart and stared for a second.

The largest Myrmidon, as tall as Ajax, removed his helmet to reveal a face covered in reddish-brown stubble. Light brown eyes looked the group over and nodded to himself.

"Achilles?" Leonidas asked, his voice sounding impressed at the man's size.

The big man barked laughter and stepped aside to reveal a very familiar form.

"It is not nice to tease, Lucas," the Myrmidon with the lion on their chest said in a vaguely familiar voice.

Achilles removed his helmet to reveal a face that was almost the same as Shaka remembered it. The only difference was a small scar beneath his left eye that added another edge to his already deadly aura. When the lion-armored Warrior-Hunter removed their helmet, Shaka' grin widened until his cheeks hurt.

"So, I see you were successful in finding Claire Marie," Shaka said, studying the close-cropped hair and intense eyes.

"Yes, but she is Alanna now, Lioness of the Myrmidons," Achilles said, his own grin creasing his brow.

"Achilles!" Athena bellowed and went charging at the man.

The big man, Lucas stepped in front of Achilles, a huge revolver in his hands, "Slowly!"

The Immortals were just as fast as the big Myrmidon and several hi-powered rifles were steady on the man in a flash.

Achilles moved Lucas out of the way, "Let there be only trust between us, Lucas. These are the ones we have sought for so long. I trust Shaka with my life. Is that enough for you when I tell you that we are all brothers and sisters?"

"My apologies, my Lord," Shaka chuckled at the title because it seemed Achilles could escape it no more easily than any of them.

Athena leapt onto Achilles with a shriek and soundly kissed him on the mouth as he supported her with two hands placed indelicately on her butt.

"He's kind of small, isn't he?" Leonidas' tone was bewildered.

The woman called Alanna grinned at the big man, "Oh, he's not so small as you think."

Alexander and Shaka bellowed with laughter as they clouted Leonidas on the shoulders.

"How many of you are there, Achilles? We have much feasting and celebrating to plan!" Alexander went forward and slung an arm across the shorter man's shoulders.

"A little over three hundred. The bulk of them are in a little town ten miles west of here," Achilles set Athena down, the woman looking a little embarrassed at her outburst, and gave Xena a one-handed hug.

"When'd you get so touchy-feeling, Achilles?!" Shaka couldn't keep the grin off his face as Achilles shrugged.

"Alanna has a way of changing people. She is even more stubborn than Hector."

"That _is_ something," Leonidas said, eyeing the short woman with an appraising eye.

"I would have your name, brother," Achilles directed the question to Leonidas.

"Leonidas, Lord of the Spartans," Leonidas answered, his chin raised.

"Spartans, Immortals, Aiel," Achilles grinned, "It seems much has changed in my absence. We have much to catch up on, brothers."

"Yes," Shaka clapped his hands, "Xerxes, get details set up to welcome the rest of the Myrmidons. Tell the Others nothing. Our family is whole again and, soon, the world will tremble at the very taste of the word Aiel."

Alanna grinned, "I had forgotten how much I liked you, Shaka."

Shaka's laughter echoed to the very heavens.

* * *

_End Notes: Well, that's the end of this little episode in the history of the Aiel. I like to make big jumps in time when I feel a story deserves a concrete ending and there was really no need to go into all sorts of detail about the Myrmidons journey since it would be pretty repetitive and kind of boring. I may revisit this world with an Anthology or something to that effect but I am undecided. It will depend on a number of things, primarily my own schedule and the demand, so if you'd like to see how the world and its various cultures develop then simply speak up._ _I make no guarantees though, but I will reply to PM's to let anyone who is interested know the state of any plans._

_Thanks to everyone that read and reviewed. Most especially to Kendoka Girl, formerly Alice the Raven, my most loyal of readers. Wouldn't have done it without you, KG._


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